Sufjan Stevens has shared ‘On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)’, his first newly written, produced and performed Christmas song in nearly 15 years. It’s taken from Worst Christmas Ever!, a new holiday album that’s out this Friday, November 6th, on Asthmatic Kitty.
The song is built around apology, self-assessment and asking for forgiveness. “On this Christmas, I ask forgiveness for all the funny things I’ve said and done,” he sings. Sufjan describes it as “a Christmas apology” and “a prayer”. The video was made by Sufjan, Michael O’Neal and Cubby Graham, using six thousand stills hand-painted by them and Hannah Cohen.
Worst Christmas Ever! collects 15 songs from his holiday catalogue, drawn from the box sets Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold, alongside the new track. Those box sets grew out of Christmas recordings he began making for friends and family in 2001. Fan favourites include ‘Sister Winter’, ‘Put the Lights on the Tree’, ‘Only at Christmas Time’ and the title track, ‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’. Past collaborators on the songs include Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire and Gabriel Kahane. The cover is a collage by Ben Giles, with layout and design by Sufjan.
Sufjan performed live for the first time last week since his Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosis in 2023.
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Worst Christmas Ever! tracklist
- Silent Night
- Put the Lights on the Tree
- Holly Jolly Christmas
- Christmas in the Room
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Christmas Infinity Voyage Version)
- Sister Winter
- Joy to the World
- On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)
- Angels We Have Heard on High (Christmas Infinity Voyage Version)
- Only at Christmas Time
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Christmas Unicorn Version)
- That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!
- Sleigh Ride
- Justice Delivers Its Gift
- Auld Lang Syne
- Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages)
Pre-order Worst Christmas Ever!, or get the Rough Trade exclusive edition.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
