BY: JESSICA BEUKER
It’s finally socially acceptable to start listening to Christmas music out loud, without receiving death glares from your roommate and his friends. This joyous time comes around only once a year, so you better make the most of it!
In case you’re starting to get sick of the same old songs played in retail stores, in movies and on the radio, perhaps it’s time to shake it up and add some new Christmas songs to your list. Or at the very least, new and unique versions of classic Christmas songs.
1. O Holy Night – Luke Bryan
What more can we say about Luke Bryan?! His smooth and deep voice is the epitome of country music and his cover of O Holy Night proves that he can take a classic Christmas song and make it his own, without losing any of that special Christmas magic.
2. Snowed In – Twin Kennedy
For everyone dreaming of a white Christmas, Snowed In is the soft ballad you’ve also been dreaming of. It’s hard to make a new Christmas song that will stand next to the classics, but Twin Kennedy is up for the challenge. One listen and you will have it stuck in your head for the entire Christmas season.
3. The Christmas Song – Dylan Scott
This is my absolute favourite Christmas song, so I was a little nervous about another artist covering it. My nerves melted away however, when I heard Dylan Scott’s warm voice wash over the lyrics of this beautiful ballad. Trading in the jazzy background music for just a simple piano, this Christmas tune will warm your heart and lull you into your annual eggnog induced coma.
4. Say all you want for Christmas – Shania Twain and Nick Jonas
Country stars have a remarkable ability to blend beautifully with a range of other genres and other-genre artists, and this new country Christmas song is no exception. Featuring pop sensation Nick Jonas, Say all you want for Christmas blends Jonas’ voice with adorable lyrics, and country queen Shania Twain for a ballad you won’t be able to stop listening to. It’s the country Christmas song of the season and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear people singing it year after year.
5. You make it feel like Christmas – Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
It must be the year of the country-pop Christmas duet, because real-life sweethearts Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have jumped on the bandwagon too. This is probably my favourite pick on the list, largely in part because I never expected it to work out like this. If you told me that Gwen Stefani, who’s pop-ska roots influence her eclectic voice and raspy vibrato, was going to pair up with Blake Shelton, who’s voice is classic country through and through, I would have said no way, Jose! Yet it works. It fact, it works so well that you will be listening to this tune on repeat. Of course, it helps that it’s super upbeat and incredibly catchy. As soon as that chorus rolls around you can’t help but sing.
