Best Christmas songs 2021 – 10 new releases this holiday season
Looking for a new Christmas song? 2021 has you covered. Here are ten festive releases for this year.
Every December many artists try to compete with the Mariah Carey and friends festive canon by releasing a new Christmas song – 2021 is no different. We’ve listed ten new additions to fill up your festive playlists this year, however you’re spending your holiday.
And if you still need more Christmas tunes, we listed the top Christmas songs of all time here, gathered the best festive songs from the 80s, and offered some alternatives you might not have heard before. Add in these non-Christmas songs that sound wintry without mentioning the holidays, and your sleigh should be full.
Leona Lewis – Kiss Me It’s Christmas ft. Ne-Yo
What year is it? 2007? Who cares when mid-noughties stars Leona Lewis and Ne-Yo are here singing swooningly about domestic bliss at Christmastime. There’s Spanish guitar, sparkling percussion and two voices complimenting each other beautifully.
George Ezra – Come on Home For Christmas
This song is an Amazon Music exclusive but you’re bound to have heard it on YouTube or on the radio airwaves.The jaunty chorus is carried along with festive sleigh bells that will echo in your head and be stuck there all day.
Peach PRC – Christmas Kinda Sucks
A relatable holiday song aimed at all those for whom Christmas is a bit of a bummer. 90s vibes mix with very 2021 hyperpop-esque vocal effects as Peach PRC apologises to Mariah and Michael Bublé for shunning festive merriment every year.
James Arthur – Christmas Bells
James Arthur’s holiday ballad “Christmas Bells” is another downer, sad but beautiful and cathartic for anyone missing loved ones this December. Just because the world is jolly doesn’t mean you have to be.
Ed Sheeran & Elton John – Merry Christmas
Sheeran and John have thrown everything Christmassy at their joint single in the hope that something sticks. And it works. It will indeed stick – in your ear canal, all day.
Call me cynical but I can’t help but think they had one eye on the UK Christmas Number One when the pair joined up with another contender, charity single “Sausage Rolls For Everyone” by LadBaby.
Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande – Santa, Can’t You Hear Me?
He we have two huge voices singing their woolly Christmas socks off. Though the pair are really belting it out, neither seem to be trying to out-sing the other. Pure joyous talent.
This year Ariana Grande also joined Megan Thee Stallion to collaborate with Jimmy Fallon on a coronavirus festive song “It Was A… (Masked Christmas)”.
Blackaby – Plastic Mistletoe
Gather round the piano for this charity single from Blackaby and sing of the delights of free shipping. There’s something a bit Phil Spector Christmas album about how the production sounds.
Michael Bublé – The Christmas Sweater
It’s not Christmas without Bublé, and here he is celebrating ugly Xmas knitwear with a simple, harmless, cheesy tune. Not enough Christmas songs have a musical interlude these days. Or whistling, for that matter.
The Lathums – Krampus
“Krampus” sounds like if the Smiths did Christmas songs. The indie rock guitar riff is jolly enough to make you not mind the proclamations of the cancellation of Christmas and promising a festive season full of rain and without a visit from Santa Claus.
ABBA – Little Things
Musical theatre vibes reminiscent of The Sound of Music and a music box refrain make this single from ABBA’s comeback album a sweet addition to Christmas songs playlists for this year.
Have you heard a better Christmas song this winter? Pop it in the comments.