Mistletunes

This is from the sessions for the Queen II album and is previously unreleased. It's a Brian May song and he revealed its existence on British radio this week. Not strongly Christmasy, but it does have a compatible vibe as it goes on about wintry topics. Apparently the song came from Brian's previous band Smile originally. An expanded version of Queen II is set for release in 2026 and this will be on it, until then it's only on YouTube.

These two hip-hoppers have previously released Christmas collections of tunes going back to 2016, and they're back in 2025 with this five-song EP that dropped Christmas day. All are mid-tempo jams and fairly lively-sounding, my choices here would be "Black Santa" and "Gloria." The rest are "Safe With Me," "I Want What I Want," and "Bless Them All." Like the others, this is only available on Soundcloud.

Austin, TX-based Potter describes himself as a "bedroom wizard," and this 2025 collection does have the feel of a homebrew project. But that's not a bad thing. The description indicates this release was compiled from a lot of different previous projects, and it's mainly his vision of a fairly eclectic selection of covers, like "One More Sleep 'til Christmas" with Julie Wierd, fairly conventional versions of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Lindsey Mackin, same for "My Favorite Things," a live band version of the "Home Alone" theme, and two songs from the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," the title song plus "We Have All the Time in the World." I wouldn't call this an essential grab for your holiday playlists, but it does reward multiple listenings. Grab this from Bandcamp, no other streaming options available.

Well, I didn't have a Kraftwerk Christmas parody on my bingo card for 2025, or any year really. This is a single that smushes Christmas carols into the Kraftwerk song "Pocket Calculator," and steals some other stuff along the way, including a snippet of "South Park." Flip it over for "Neon Xmas Lights," more of a straight mashup of the Germans with Smokey Robinson, Prince, Luther Vandross, Beastie Boys and "Star Wars Christmas." If you like that, the artist offers a separate tune, "Hanukkah Falls on the Sabbath," which is Jack Black vs Black Sabbath. Get this from Bandcamp, no other streaming option I can discover.

Got tipped to this during Christmas Eve dinner, this is the first chance I've had to put it up. Set to that hippopotamus song, it gets its point across quickly. Too bad I didn't have it for this Christmas so you could playlist it, but those of you who celebrate Orthodox Christmas still have a shot. It started out as a TikTok, but has migrated to YouTube and streaming as well.

My holiday travel plans require me to step away from the screen earlier than normal, so I'd like to once again thank readers and followers of this website for sticking with me as I continue my semi-obsession with this website and its mission of tracking new and obscure Christmas music in the general rock 'n roll multiverse. I continue with mixed feelings given that the mission used to be acquiring songs in physical form back when I started doing this in the 1990s and now it's a question of tracking 1's and 0's across the digital realm. The fact that our main pipelines to music think nothing of choosing the next song for you before you can decide what you want to hear also feels kind of diminishing. On the other hand, building original playlists to share with your friends is easier than ever, so there's that. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, and as always I've managed to find you a small silly gift, below.

Paula is a veteran of the Boston music scene who performed with the Drop Nineteens and Boy Wonder before going solo, and she's popped up on a couple of ancient Christmas compilations in the past. For 2025 she gives us this cool Brill Building-via-synthpop ballad, very dramatic and heartstring-tugging thanks to her little-girl vocal style. Downloads and streaming everywhere.

The Hanukkah band from two decades ago is back with this single providing us with a rocking song based on an old proverb. It's neat and doesn't stick out as a Hanukkah song, if that means anything to you. Streaming and downloads. Should note that the band included this and another song, "Jewish Stars," on a revamped and newly vinylized version of their original Hanukkah Rocks album, but you'll have to go to Bandcamp to get it if you still can. Oh, should note that I completely whiffed back in 2015 when I missed these guys joining up with Matisyahu for the kosher reggae "Outside of December."

Cool Philly band drops a pair of pop-punk covers for 2025, the George Harrison song "Ding Dong Ding Dong," good for Christmas and New Year's playlists both, and Wham's "Last Christmas." Streaming and download everywhere.

These Aussies carry the AC/DC flag forward for 2025 with this tune about a holiday tradition, although the human resources department at your workplace might not approve. But it's a driving rocker that'll wake up your playlists. Streaming and downloads, natch.

UPDATE: This album got a major update for 2025, with the original tunes remixed and remastered and a couple new ones added: "AEt," a thrasher that appears to be a jaundiced look at holiday sugar intake, and the even more intense "Everybody Christmas," which they're promoting as a single. Album cover and link to Amazon are updated at right. END UPDATE. Those of you whose life paths carry you a little too close to the retail sector might well be sick of Christmas already. If that's you, these guys might well be your holiday soundtrack, assuming metal crunch with a side order of laughs is your favored genre. On this 2007 disc, "Holiday Hate" brings the bitch list with its "Consumers gotta BUY" chorus, its declaration that Santa doesn't exist and its complaint that Christmas goodies make us fat. Despite the fact that Santa doesn't exist, he turns out to be a "Jollly Old Sadist" who doesn't come through on the wish lists unless you really wanted a shirt box full of socks. "Jingle Bell Metal" is pretty much as advertised, "Silent Night" is nothing of the kind, though it's only 25 seconds long, "Red Snow" is Rudolph's snuff-horror fantasy, causing Johnny Marks to roll over in his grave no doubt, and how else to cap off the festivities than with "Happy F- New Year."

Some cool punk rock from these guys in 2025 celebrating the holiday at the famed Chicago Cubs ballpark. How that works I'm not sure, I don't think there's much going on there between October and April, but sports fans will certainly go along. Flip it over for "Santa's Coffee," a little less frenetic but no less rocking about giving the jolly elf a pick-me-up before the big night. Streaming and downloads, natch. Should note that this isn't the band's first holiday go-round, plus they have a side project as Ralphie's Red Ryders doing songs exclusively about the movie "A Christmas Story." 

I've been remiss if I believe this Minneapolis guy's Bandcamp blurb about how this 2025 tune is his 20th annual holiday single. Doesn't appear they're all on Bandcamp, but there's a bunch of them there. For now I'll just stick to this year's entry, a bit of white-guy hip-hop about how Christmas can transport you through time, a nice sci-fi way of describing nostalgia. Hop over and grab this, as his holiday releases are charitable outreaches benefitting RAINN and Wigs For Kids. Streaming and downloads, click the cover to get it from Amazon.

It had only recently occurred to me that despite flagging numerous covers of this guy's popular Christmas song "Driving Home For Christmas" from 1986, we never gave it its own dedicated post. Two recent developments reminded me of this shortfall; one, the 2025 release of this compilation of holiday tunes by him, and two, his demise this week at age 74. "Driving" had actually dropped as the B-side of "Hello Friend" but, especially in his native UK and Europe, the record got flipped regularly at the end of the year for this nostalgic slice of yacht rock about holiday travels. This compilation is kind of slight, in that it includes two versions of "Driving" and "Footprints in the Snow," the latter one vocal and one instrumental; the slinky semi-spoken "Joys of Christmas"; the ballads"Smile" and "Winter Song"; and the instrumental reggae goof "Rudolph's Rotor Arm." Streaming and downloads everywhere, of course.

These guys are on a Christmas crusade. For 2025 they've added to their holiday repertoire with this sweet indie-pop-sounding ballad. Doesn't show up on streaming yet, but you can download it free from their website.

The Merkels have historically dropped their annual recording project exactly on Christmas Day in previous years, so I was surprised to see their 2025 release had dropped way back on Dec. 1. Anyway, it's here, an EP full of rock parodies designed to change up the pace of your holiday playlists. If you missed last year's single of "Reindeer Game" (Chris Isaac parody) and "Last Christmas I Told You I Love You," not to worry, they're tacked onto the end of this release, at least on the streaming services. The remaining songs are "For Santa's Girth" (Buffalo Springfield), "One Red Light" (Wallflowers), "Tree" (Radiohead), and "Sittin on the Back of My Sleigh" (Otis Redding). As always, you might note the productions are a touch amateur, but that's part of their charm, I think. Available everywhere including Bandcamp.

Hi folks, I took a day to finish off the 2025 Mistletunes musical Christmas mix. I link to it here, but like all the previous ones it's down there in the sidebar too, at the top for alphabetical reasons. Regular posting will resume, so don't forget that our Amazon affiliation helps defray the costs of running this fine website, so consider using links from this site to jumpstart your shopping trips. Whenever there's an Amazon link to a particular song, it's accessed by clicking on the album cover art of the individual post. Join Amazon Prime, get audiobooks from Audible, or stream Amazon Music. Thanks. 

The perennial Christmas punks are back in 2025 with a cover of Eric Idle's anti-Xmas carol. It was funny when it was just him and a guitar, and it's still funny with these guys thrashing it out all 1977-style for us. Appears to only be on their Bandcamp page.

Kansas City, MO-based Chase has been around for a while and for 2025 dreamed up this cool little pop-rocker with little bits of Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen's sound mixed into a tune that also reminds of a more boisterous Father John Misty. Great stuff, and there are three different mixes of it included on the single. Downloads and streaming everywhere. 

Kylie's one of those British singing stars who, like Robbie Williams and The Darkness, have only managed the slightest visibility in the American music charts. This album originated in 2015 and has been retinseled for 2025 with three new tunes, the self-described "banger" "Hot In December," the uptempo "Office Party," and the ballad "This Time of Year." Kylie's usual sound is contemporary hit radio via early 90s dance music, but for the holiday crowd she willingly went old-school jazz-era pop on "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Santa Baby," "Let It Snow," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" in which she exhumes Frank Sinatra for a duet. (Of this latter item, from the original 2015 album, I'm really over this Duets of the Living Dead thing, especially since you can do something similar with AI nowadays.) The original album also featured modern originals like "100 Degrees" done with her sister Dannii, "White December," and "Christmas Isn't Christmas Till You Get Here." The modern stuff is clearly her forte and I'm happy to wave one or more of these into your playlists; the antique pop stuff is probably done better by others. Oh, almost forgot; if you buy the album from Amazon, it includes the 2015 tune "XMAS," which has remained exclusive to the merchant from that day to this. There are also endless remixes of this particular song available there as well.

It's the 30th anniversary of this DIY stalwart issuing their first Christmas song. For 2025 we get a rocked out number about a Santa Claus on the run. Cool stuff, free to download from their site (no streaming anywhere), and as always the whole 30 years worth of holiday music is there for your free download. Check it out.

Stereogum calls these guys "New York synth-punks," and I'll go along because I don't know any different. For 2025 they drop this deceptively bouncy ode to what appears to be an ending relationship but later appears to be an ending world. Guest vocal by Lulu Landolfi, who goes by "Lulu" in the credits, but I'm adding her last name so that no old people in the audience will wonder if it's the same person who sang "To Sir With Love." Streaming and downloads, you know the drill.

Just discovered this and I'm not sure whether it was intended as a holiday release, but given that it dropped just two days ago and is about a winter weather phenomenon, I'm going to allow it. This is a cool lo-fi indie ballad from a Baltimore-based trio with several recent releases to their credit. Streaming and downloads everywhere.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller have become standard entertainment fare in the holiday season after 40 years or more recording and touring, so it's not surprising some other entity would come along to cover that slice of sonic territory. Enter Dynalectric Orchestra, a Montreal-based ensemble that has been around since at least 2019, and for 2025 has dropped an album, a separate EP with additional tunes, and a single, "Best Christmas Ever," covering the Christmas beat. This stuff is all solidly in the tradition established by the predecessor ensembles -- 70s classic rock with lots of metal-style guitar shredding backed by orchestras and synthesizers for the most massive possible sound. I've been on record as being not so excited about this particular sub-genre of rock music, but I'd never discourage anyone from checking it out for themselves. Their official website shows a quartet of middle-aged folks in period-correct rock star attire, though oddly the actual names of these people don't figure here. (I did find four names attached to their Bandcamp page.) And of course, pre-announcements of future tours and lots of swag for sale are there as well. All this is my roundabout way of getting to the payoff; Apple Music shows they released eight albums in calendar year 2025 and even more singles and EPs, leading to my suspicion that these guys, if not actually AI-generated entities ala Tilly Norwood, are definitely using the latest tools to bulk up their discography. Do with that what you wish; I'll give them credit for the quality of "Best Christmas Ever" as a cool midtempo rocker. Streaming and downloads everywhere.

We don't get enough dopey party records around the holidays, so here's one from the famed supermodel and influencer about a little girl at the South Pole who made ice cream out of snow and got the idea to deliver it around the world around Christmas, but the Claus-man didn't wanna share his franchise and flipped the script, leading him to the North Pole and fame. This is kind of a pop/hip-hop banger and you may have trouble following the storyline just by listening, but you won't care because you'll be dancing. Streaming and downloads, though People magazine showed a physical CD package.

Two decades on from their debut, The Darkness are still mining that 70s glam/hard rock sound, though their fandom is largely anchored to the UK and EU, as their earnest take on their inspirations has not gotten them much notice here in the USA. For 2025 they drop their third Christmas single (one and two here), a slow crunch hard rock ballad about two time-tested ways to celebrate the holiday. Streaming and downloads, natch.

Minnesota-based Kestner has been around for almost a decade, and for 2025 she dropped this cool midtempo ballad expressing good holiday wishes but with the possibility she's not having the same feeling going unspoken. Streaming and downloads.

Bernie was an original member of the Eagles, and some would say a valuable one, though he was turfed out in favor of Joe Walsh despite his versatility on various stringed instruments, vocals and songwriting. He's been a busy beaver as a solo artist if not particularly famous for his efforts, and for 2025 he dropped this single. It's billed as parts one and two, though it's actually two different versions of the same song. Part one is a song about the protracted preparation for the holidays in an arrangement that would fit seamlessly into an early Eagles setlist; part two is a more bombastic commercial arrangement, although this version would fit better with 70s Top 40 than a contemporary hit radio format. Anyway, both versions are fine and you can choose which one to go with on your own. Streaming and download.

The label name tipped me off that these guys might be from Philadelphia, and indeed they are. From listening to this 2025 release, you might think they're Tex-Mex, right down to the roller-rink organ. The title is the bell that rings on the "Christmas train," just so you know, although you'll be dancing and your partner will be too distracted to absorb this little factoid. Flip it over for "Christmas Struttin'," about walking down the street at Christmas time. A little slower and funkier but still a worthy holiday rocker. A little investigation reveals this is the third year in a row this band has dropped a holiday goodie for your musical stocking; 2024 gave us "Wanamaker's Christmas" and 2023's entry was "Christmas Fun." Streaming and downloads of course.

Zack is a Pittsburgh-based performer with a recent album and several singles out there in the stream, and for 2025 he covered the long-running country/rock classic in an arrangement that leans more toward a David Lynch soundtrack. If you haven't made room for this particular tune in your holiday playlists, Zack's version is worth having. Streaming and downloads where you do that sort of business.