I love Christmastime for many reasons, but one of them has to be the songs. It's awesome to have special songs just for this season -- songs that point us to the tremendous anticipation and arrival of the King who was come for us. 

 

While my dear colleague Kevin Davis shared his favorite renditions of traditional Christmas songs last week, this week I'm sharing my Top 10 Christmas songs to put in your playlist this Christmas 2012. These are full of celebration songs, some somber moments, and even some stuff you've never heard before. 
 

(Check out the playlist on MOG here.)
 

I could fill this entire list with songs from the fantastic 2010 EP, Over the Hills and Everywhere, but for this list, I've picked two. My favorite from this album is the lullaby-vibed "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." The thing about this album is that while the lyrics are that of the classic songs, the melodies, tempos and song construction are completely original. While the original "Hark" is a triumphant, big-sounding anthem, Seabird's version is more subdued at first, giving way to a foot-stomping, front porch banjo jam. It's a celebration, for sure, and the fresh coat of paint gives new life and attention to the lyrics we all know.

 

Now, a cappella wizards Pentatonix isn't a Christian band (although the vocal percussionist, Kevin "K.O." Olusa has been a part of the Gungor collective), but their thick, heartfelt, jazz-inspired, melodically complex version of my all-time favorite Christmas song is remarkable. The quintet's blend is fantastic, and the various musical choices they make in the various chordal structures is almost too much to take in. You can't hardly believe that just five people are producing so much music! This is a must-listen for the holidays, found on the PTXmas EP.

 

The newly independent Starfield, fresh off their release The Kingdom, has quickly reemerged with their Christmas EP, Songs For Christmas Vol. 1. (So does that mean more Christmas music is forthcoming? Hmm…)

 

The soothing vocals of Tim Neufeld paint a hypnotic soundscape, flanked by haunting high harmonies that passionately capture the longing for Messiah and the relief of His arrival. Fans of The Kingdom will feel right at home with this musically excellent and dramatic track.

 

This song from Christmas in Diverse City is just a blast. It's got the high energy and good beat you'd expect from a tobyMac song. It's well produced. It's catchy. It's singable. And, to add to all that, it's got Owl City (Adam Young) singing along. It's a great pairing of these two heavyweights, and it makes the typically mundane chorus of the song -- "Noel, noel, noel, noel, born is the King of Israel" -- fairly exciting and head bobbing. Have a good time… this is supposed to be a birthday celebration!
 

 

If you're unfamiliar with Sufjan Stevens, I'm pleased to introduce you. Sufjan and your smooth vocals, witty and poetic lyrics and mastery of unconventional instruments, meet the readers. Readers, meet "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" from the Songs For Christmas album.

 

Despite the seemingly funny title of this song, it's actually a quite sad tale that begins happily in the snow, and ends with the haunting line: "Silent night, nothing feels right." 

 

It's the story of a father flipping out on a family during Christmas, "throwing the gifts in the wood stove," and a sibling running away. It's a raw, honest retelling, and one that forces us to focus on the Love that should define the season. 

It seems a popular thing to do these days to take an old hymn or Christmas song and freshen it up by slapping a brand-new chorus onto it. The songs on A Very Special Christmas do a good job of augmenting the good that's already inherent in the classics.

 

Rather than shoehorn a chorus onto "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," the song "He Has Come For Us," in my opinion, enhances the original, providing a unifying, summarizing declaration that provides the context for all the Old English stanzas: "He has come for us, this Jesus / He's the hope for all mankind / He has come for us, the Messiah / Born to give us life."

Meredith Andrews provides powerhouse vocals that resound as someone calling into the wilderness, to a world that desperately needs to hear this news. 
 

 

If Christmas happened in the summertime, what would a song for the season sound like? Ask the Aussies; Christmas always happens in the heat of summer down under. Mix the youthful joy and happiness of a summer anthem with the genuine elation of the coming of the Messiah, and you have this brand-new tune from Hillsong. 

 

Many Christmas songs are serious (and understandably so), and others just have triumphant words that are hard to difficult to translate outside a hymn's structure, so this kind of Easter-energied song is rare to find during Christmas. It's seriously among the happiest Christmas songs I've ever heard, and on We Have A Savior, there's more where that came from. Play it over and over. And dance.

 

There are no "Greensleeves" melodies here. Strumming electric guitars, synths and pianos accompany a Brit-pop feel that turns the traditional hymn into a toe-tapper.

 

As I said before (regarding "Hark…") Seabird's album really takes advantage of the profound lyrics of the traditional hymns. With this sort of musical treatment, we trade the mysterious sounding original melody for a more declarative, celebratory rock opera aria of sorts. I could imagine any number of the Seabird Christmas songs serving as the soundtrack for a modern Christmas program.