19 New Holiday Songs Out This Week

The holidays are upon us, and whether you’re feeling festive or not, musicians are climbing aboard the tinsel bandwagon with new songs for the season. We offer to you a week’s worth of them, nestled in one place, like gifts under a tree.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – IT'S HARD TO DANCE WHEN IT'S COLD AND THERE'S NO MUSIC: KILL ROCK STARS WINTER HOLIDAY ALBUM VOLUME 2

Back in 2006, indie label Kill Rock Stars released Kill Rock Stars Winter Holiday Album and they've now made a sequel, featuring festive songs by Bitch & John Cameron Mitchell, Caleb Nichols, Melissa Ferrick, Your Heart Breaks and more. You can also listen to the original, which features Thao, Excepter, Beth Ditto and more below.

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BORIS – "PARDON?" (REMIX) & "LAST CHRISTMAS" (WHAM! COVER)

There are probably enough covers of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" in the world, but we'll take one more if it's from Boris. “This is a Christmas present for everyone who lives with the various restrictions stemming from COVID-19," say Boris. "Here in Japan, it is customary to give gifts at Christmas. We hope this Christmas will be the ‘Last Christmas’ of COVID-19.” This holiday EP also features a remix of their 2011 track, "Pardon?"

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SHAME – "BALDUR'S GATE"

Despite the Dungeons & Dragons-y title, Shame's new track is a holiday song of sorts, but apart from a hint of sleigh bells in the opening moments and a mention of Christmas, you wouldn't really know it. "Baldur's Gate" is definitely a Shame song, though, with sinewy guitars and a dark romantic vibe: "If I could rip off all my skin," Charlie Steen sings in the opening lines, "And parcel it inside a tin, I’d write your name in biro, on the ribbons, like decorations."

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SURFBORT – "GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER" (ELMO & PATSY COVER)

NYC's Surfbort have covered Elmo & Patsy's 1979 novelty hit "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" which comes with an appropriately wacky animated video.

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JIMMY FALLON ft. ARIANA GRANDE & MEGAN THEE STALLION – "IT WAS A…(MASKED CHRISTMAS)"

Move over "Hot Girl Fall," Jimmy Fallon and Megan Thee Stallion have made another seasonal anthem, this time for Christmas during a pandemic and with help from Ariana Grande.

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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive and our “Holiday Music” category.