It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Well, maybe not just yet, but the holidays are fast approaching, and a new album set to release this month will certainly help kick off the season. Holidays Rule is a compilation of classic Christmas songs as recorded by some of the year's biggest music acts, as well as some up-and-comers.
The set boasts 17 all-new recordings, including pop phenoms fun., the legendary Paul McCartney, indie-pop luminaries The Shins, Americana favorites The Civil Wars, adored singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright (with Sharon Van Etten), playful popsters Fruit Bats, bluegrass revisionists Punch Brothers, soul icon Irma Thomas (with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band), cinematic rockers Calexico, eclectic troubadour Andrew Bird, Latin neo-traditionalists Y La Bamba, Texas twang-rock troupe Heartless Bastards, alterna-folk standard-bearer Holly Golightly, roots quintet Black Prairie (featuring Sallie Ford), choral revival collective AgesAndAges, Fiery Furnaces alumna Eleanor Friedberger and Seattle Americana outfit The Head and the Heart.
Originally titled Christmas Rules, the LP will be released on Oct. 30 via Paul McCartney's label Hear Music, an imprint formed by Starbucks and Concord Music Group. It is being produced by Sara Matarazzo and Chris Funk, with executive producer Randall Poster.
Listen to samples of each track below.
Tracklist:
1. fun. – “Sleigh Ride”
2. The Shins – “Wonderful Christmastime”
3. Rufus Wainwright with Sharon Van Etten – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
4. Paul McCartney -”The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
5. Black Prairie – “(Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag” [ft. Sallie Ford]
6. The Civil Wars – “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
7. Calexico – “Green Grows the Holly”
8. AgesandAges – “We Need a Little Christmas”
9. Holly Golightly – “That’s What I Want For Christmas”
10. Irma Thomas with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band – “May Every Day Be Christmas”
11. Heartless Bastards -”Blue Christmas”
12. Eleanor Friedberger – “Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me)”
13. Fruit Bats – “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas”
14. Y La Bamba – “Señor Santa (Mister Santa)”
15. The Punch Brothers – “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
16. The Head & the Heart – “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”
17. Andrew Bird – “Auld Lang Syne”