It’s December and that means Christmas music filling the air. It also means a plethora of new holiday albums to choose from – ranging from the awe-full to the awful. Here are my favorite new Christmas albums this year.
Advent Christmas EP, Vol. 2 by Future of Forestry. Led by lead singer Eric Owyoung, FOF’s offering is an eclectic mix of electronic, symphonic, and rock which effortlessly blends into a beautiful collection of holiday songs. Technically, this isn’t a ‘new’ album since it debuted in 2010, but I only recently discovered it – so it counts. It also contains my favorite song this Christmas: The Earth Stood Still. Haunting. Evocative. Stunning.
Come Let Us Adore Him by The Lower Lights. This is where folk meets bluegrass and the product is one of the most unique carol arrangements you can find. Think of it as where “O Brother Where Art Thou” meets Christmas. It’s Old World good. Also, don’t let their Mormon-background keep you away from the music (think of it as ironic). The songs are traditional and their talent is undeniable.
A Child Is Born by Sojourn. Sojourn is one of the few churches who produce some of the finest music around. An oft-heard critique of their music is that in striving for artistry they tend to produce songs that are easy to listen to but hard to sing corporately, which is a critical component of congregational music. I think it a fair observation. It holds true for this album as well, one more performance than participatory. But if you want a Christmas album with a fantastic folk-rock, indie-esque sound, look no further than A Child Is Born.
These are the new albums to go into heavy rotation with my other Christmas standards:
- George Winston December
- Vince Guaraldi A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Andrew Peterson Behold The Lamb of God
- Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas
- Perry Como Greatest Christmas Songs
- Harry Connick, Jr. When My Heart Finds Christmas
- Bifrost Arts Salvation is Created
What would you add?
3 thoughts on “My Favorite New Christmas Albums”
Lifechurch.tv has a great Christmas Album that I have enjoyed listening to. http://www.lifechurch.tv/carols
David Crowder Band Oh for Joy is a great one in my opinion!
Click on me, I get a dime everytime! old song…