New Christmas Albums Span Indie, Pop, Jazz and Bluegrass This Holiday Season

The most interesting thing about this year's holiday releases isn't a single dominant sound. It's the range: Sufjan Stevens is returning to Christmas music with his first new holiday song in 15 years, Hilary Duff has a concise pop EP, and the cast of The Gilded Age is taking a Broadway-heavy route through seasonal standards. Alongside them are jazz, bluegrass, synthwave and traditional crooner records. For listeners planning a holiday rotation, there are several plausible entry points beyond the usual classics.

New material from familiar names

Sufjan Stevens, Worst Christmas Ever!

Worst Christmas Ever! gathers 16 tracks from Stevens' many Christmas releases onto one compilation, with one new addition: “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better).” The song marks his first new holiday recording in 15 years, and his first new song of any kind since his recovery from Guillain-Barré syndrome. For listeners who've followed the long-running series of seasonal releases, the compilation offers a fresh track alongside a curated way back into that catalog. [Out 11/6 on Asthmatic Kitty.]

Alanis Morissette, Good Weather For Immaculate Conception

Morissette has been adding holiday songs to her repertoire over several seasons; her first Christmas album brings those recordings together with new ones. The guest list includes Brandi Carlile, Joy Oladokun, Amythyst Kiah, Trans Voices, and actors Steve Martin and Martin Short from Only Murders In The Building. Its first preview, a take on the bluegrass standard “Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem”, pairs Morissette and Carlile with Martin on banjo. The combination gives the project an unusually broad cast for a holiday debut. [Out 11/6 on Epiphany Music.]

Hilary Duff, Holiday Things EP

Three original songs and two covers make up Duff's Holiday Things, a compact release that makes a case for new pop holiday music without asking listeners to commit to a full album. It starts with the playful title “All You Want For Christmas Is Me.” The EP's mix of originals and covers puts it in the company of the more successful recent pop-seasonal releases, including Ariana Grande's Christmas & Chill. [Out now via Sugarmouse/Atlantic.]

Steven Page, Steven's Greetings

Page's last Christmas album arrived in 2004, when he was still a member of Barenaked Ladies. On Steven's Greetings, he revisits some songs from Barenaked For The Holidays and adds new originals, standards and a couple of Hanukkah tunes. The collection moves between comedy and sincerity: it opens with Page singing about making a cheese log from cream cheese and cheddar, then closes with “Auld Lang Syne,” performed with his three adult sons. That tonal range is part of the album's appeal; Page doesn't have to choose between a gag and a heartfelt seasonal moment. [Out 11/13 via Fresh Baked Goods.]

Traditional sounds, with room for a twist

Niia, Christmas With Niia

Niia's holiday album sits in the jazz-leaning, deliberately intimate lane, with producer Spencer Zahn on board. The clearest sign of its approach is her cover of Paul McCartney's much-debated “Wonderful Christmastime.” The lead single trades the original's playful oddness for a wistful, smooth arrangement. It gives a familiar song a different emotional temperature, and suggests an album built for quieter seasonal listening. [Out digitally 10/30 and physically 12/4 via Candid Records.]

Ryan Peter Murphy, Christmas In New England

At 24, Connecticut-born Berklee student Murphy is pursuing a straightforward crooner sound. He calls himself a “swooner,” described in a press release as “Gen Z’s answer to the crooner,” and Christmas In New England stays close to traditional pop rather than updating it with a contemporary twist. Some of the songs are also set to appear in this year's Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, pointing to a sound designed to travel easily across generations. The animated video for the title track supplies the most overtly modern touch. [Out now on Warner.]

aron!, christmas dream EP

Lowercase styling and the label “cozy pop” give aron! a contemporary profile, but the music looks back to big-band pop. His upcoming christmas dream EP shares some territory with Murphy's crooner project, though its preview has a bit more snap. The single “Christmas Dreams” delivers its big-band arrangement with an easy, relaxed swagger. [Out 11/13 via Verve.]

Kat Edmonson, Have Your Merry Christmas With Me

Edmonson has been working in holiday music for years, from her appearance on Lyle Lovett's Songs For The Season in 2011 to her own Holiday Swingin'! (A Kat Edmonson Christmas, Vol. 1) in 2021. Her new album continues in that jazz-pop tradition. The advance singles “It's Snowing” and “That's What I Want For Christmas” suggest her originals can sit comfortably beside the standards she's known for. [Out 11/6 via self-release.]

Debbie Gibson, Winterlicious D’Luxe

Gibson expands her 2022 holiday album, Winterlicious, with a deluxe edition featuring six additional tracks. The release arrives ahead of her Christmas-themed Las Vegas residency in December. “Lit Up” is among the new songs, and its bright pop energy recalls the groundwork Gibson laid as a hitmaker before the rise of artists such as Britney Spears. [Out now via Stargirl.]

The Infamous Stringdusters, Dust The Halls Vol. 2

The progressive bluegrass group returns to seasonal material with a follow-up to 2020's Dust The Halls: An Acoustic Christmas Holiday! The sequel keeps the format broad, bringing hymns and standards together with original songs. The band's acoustic approach gives the familiar holiday repertoire a rustic frame, with continuity from the earlier release built into the title. [Out 11/13 via Americana Vibes.]

Projects built around a particular setting

The cast of The Gilded Age, Voices Of The Gilded Age: The Christmas Album

HBO's The Gilded Age isn't a musical, but its cast includes an unusually deep bench of Broadway talent. The album puts those voices to work on seasonal standards, alongside two new songs by hitmaker Desmond Child. Singers include Carrie Coon, Ben Ahlers, Christine Baranski, Laura Benanti, Denée Benton, Jordan Donica, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Donna Murphy, Kelli O’Hara, Taylor Richardson, Morgan Spector, Taylor Trensch and Adrienne Warren. The preview sounds more like 20th-century musical theater than 1880s New York, but the cast's range is the main draw. [Out 11/6 via Concord Theatricals.]

David Benoit, David Benoit Conducts A Vince Guaraldi Holiday Symphony

Vince Guaraldi's music for A Charlie Brown Christmas has a strong claim on the holiday canon, which makes any reinterpretation a high bar. Jazz pianist and composer Benoit takes on that material with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra for a symphonic arrangement of Guaraldi's work. The lead track, “Christmas Time Is Here,” also features the All-American Boys Choir. [Out digitally 10/30 and physically 11/20 via Candid.]

Norah Jones and Chris Stapleton, “April’s Gone”

Jones and Stapleton bring a roots-oriented sound to the one-off holiday song “April's Gone.” Jones wrote it with Leon Michels of El Michels Affair, who produced her 2021 holiday album I Dream Of Christmas and 2024's Visions. The pairing won't overturn either artist's reputation for polished, easygoing listening, but the track has a natural fit for a coffee shop playlist.

Johan Agebjörn and Dana Jean Phoenix, “Will You Be Home For Christmas”

Swedish producer Agebjörn and synthwave singer-songwriter Phoenix give “Will You Be Home For Christmas” an electronic, cinematic premise, imagining seasonal music in the vein of the Drive soundtrack. The result leans glossier than that reference suggests, but the synth-driven approach makes it one of the more distinctive standalone releases in this year's crop. [Out 11/27 via self-release.]

The season's releases offer more than another round of familiar standards: they show artists approaching holiday music as pop, jazz, theater, bluegrass and electronic music. The most promising picks are the ones that make their chosen sound matter, whether that's Stevens returning with a new song or Niia recasting a much-played favorite. [Out dates are listed above.]