Matthias Dahlström: Here are the best Christmas songs

When in 2019 the Society for Correct Performance of Music, the UK’s response to the copyright organization STIM, conducted a major survey on Christmas music, it turned out that of Britain’s 20 most beloved Christmas songs, only one was produced in the 2000s (Cliff Richards). Millennium Prayer 2000). Given that this particular song hardly has the same obvious place in the Swedish Christmas music canon, the flashback is probably more noticeable here at home. This year Adolfson and Falk’s “More Christmas” celebrates 40 years – with a new audio version – and has been broadcast 37 million times just to confirm it.

In the speakers while searching in supermarkets and malls, it is highly unlikely that anything particularly new will be played. The fact that Christmas kneels under its traditions also applies to a very high degree to Christmas music. Ideally, everything should look as it has always been. Which means that the last Christmas song to capture the soul of Swedish people – and supermarket playlists – is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. It came in 1994.

This year’s Christmas Music Edition also doesn’t have many new additions with The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s “Last Christmas” or “Fairytale of New York” challenge.

A Christmas album or a Christmas single rarely means the same investment as a more regular release, it’s neither surprising nor particularly annoying, it’s exactly what it is, but far too many artists flaunt their bell-like shoes and think that’s enough.

Björn Skifs Super Professional Collection It’s really like cutting and drying it for a Christmas album, but in “It’s Christmas” he plays so confidently that the album doesn’t add much more than its title. Same with Kelly Clarkson’s “When Christmas Comes Around,” the mix of good but sweet interpretations of traditional songs and left-over new material that characterizes much of the Christmas album release.

However, the cute nickname “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Only You)” is a rather gentle attempt to challenge said Mariah’s song, even if it’s not a tough deal with the dumb American right “Christmas Gradually” could have Guy’s Sin of Hope based on the title.

But Christmas music is also, first and foremost, a way to keep the peace of Christmas. So, there are also the more polished, well-meaning, hard-hitting Christmas songs from famous Swedes – from Tusse’s rare “This Is Our Christmas Song” and Dolly Styles’ slightly-celebrating country songs to Sanna Nielsen’s “My True Christmas” – from the herring species. on the Christmas table.

The most fun is not unexpected for artists who want something more than a simple flash. Icelandic Eurovision racer Daði Freyr quickly gets lost “something magical” among all the methane levels, but the road there is at least entertaining and unpredictable. Countrytrion Pistol Annie “Hell of a holiday” is similarly a fun heel kick.

Most obvious are the artists who understood the inherent gloom of the holiday, and how bright gift wrapping can actually mask a certain darkness.

best christmas music 2021, And every year add a little salt and acid to all the fat and sweet. And this year, you should lean on the veterans. Bo Kasper’s “In This Dark Winter” and Weeping Willow’s Songs of Winter both contain the right mix of warmth, a knitted sweater, and a dose of black to fit the holiday perfectly.

Saint-Étienne, on the other hand, ends a year when they release one of their best albums by following up on the very dreary Christmas single “Her Winter Coat,” in which Sarah Cracknell reads a short story about dreaming away to a place where no one knows. The accompanying video signed by group member Alasdair McLellan is also great.

Her “wintercoat” might not be heard in every department store from the end of November until the end of the next midday sale or next Christmas, but some of us would definitely give it a place between Jacob Miller’s version of “Silver Bells” and Lost Under Heaven’s song “Goin” Off for Christmas” On this sparse playlist of fir, we expand it with just a few more tracks each year.

Listen to the best Christmas music. DN’s Mattias Dahlström has chosen his favorite songs to decorate the Christmas tree, from The Beach Boys to Willie Nelson via Ghostface Killah.

Read more about the music and more lyrics by Matthias Dahlström.