Five new and must-have Canadian Christmas Carols

It’s the time of the year when hearing Christmas songs is pretty much inevitable, but if they are good, it’s not necessarily a bad thing!

If you’re looking to update your Christmas playlist, just in time for holiday parties or evening’s spent around a fake fireplace on the television, well, I’ve tracked down four of my favourite new Christmas songs from some fantastic Canadian artists.

A few weeks ago, Hey Rosetta! released their holiday-flavoured four track EP, A Cup Of Kindness Yet, and now, they’ve just released the video for “Carry Me Home.” As someone who lives a way from home, this video captures perfectly what it’s like to go all over and that feeling of finally making it home for Christmas. Definitely a warm and friendly new song to add to your playlist.

Most Christmas songs are about being with your friends and family for the holidays, but not very many of them are about dumping the dead weight. Thankfully, Dragonette took care of that void with the insanely catchy “Merry Xmas (Says your text message).” Unless you listen to the lyrics very carefully, you probably wouldn’t even notice that this isn’t the most merriest of songs. I’ve posted the explict version here, but it’s available in a family friendly version too. I like the use of the f-word in Christmas Carols, it’s like adding a little extra rum to your eggnog.

Okay, I cheated a little bit because this song is actually from last year’s “CBC’s Indie Christmas Concert” in Vancouver, but it’s new to me, so maybe it’s new to you too! It features Hey Ocean! Performing the Wham classic “This Christmas.” While you’ve likely heard this song a million times, the Hey Ocean version shows just how talented this band is. It’s a classic winter performance that might, I said might, just make you say “George Michael who?”

An acoustic version Jimmy Rankin‘s “Tinsel Town” was posted on the singer’s YouTube page last year, and now it’s the title track for his first solo holiday album, and it might be my favourite Christmas song on this list. If there was ever a song that captured small town Christmas and maybe what watching the snowfall with your family feels like, it’s this song. Warning to those who are away from their families this Christmas, “Tinsel Town” will make you homesick.

Even though Meaghan Smith‘s “It Snowed” is only a year old, it’s already solidified itself as a Christmas staple in my house. I’ve always loved Smith’s voice and to hear her this thing song, it really is what Christmas traditions are made of!