It is hard to find a contemporary – or indeed a past – artist who hasn’t done a Christmas compilation. This magical time of the year seems to attract artists in all genres and classic Christmas tunes often get surprising and fun makeovers, not to mention the few brave attempts to create new tunes for the holiday season! If you are looking for a Christmas album to listen to, these following albums are definitely worth checking out.

1. She & Him – A Very She & Him Christmas

She & Him is a folk-indie band by the great actress Zooey Deschanel and musician M. Ward, and together they’ve produced one of the most refreshing Christmas albums for a long time. A Very She & Him Christmas has a lovely 60s vibe to it, but it still manages to sound refreshing.

The album has plenty of Christmas favourites from Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to Blue Christmas. The definite highlight of the album is the fun rendition of Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

2. Halford III – Winter Songs

When you think about Christmas music, you won’t necessarily associate with metal music, but there are plenty of great metal Christmas albums out there. Winter Songs by Judas Priest’s frontman Rob Halford is definitely among the best and you should give it a go if you like your music rough and dark.

There are a few more unknown holiday songs on the playlist, giving you a nice change to the usual Christmas tunes. But you can also find a few lovely classics, such as the powerful version of Oh Holy Night.

3. Michael Bublé – Christmas

If you are looking for a traditional Christmas album, then you should definitely go with the smooth tunes of Michael Bublé. Bublé is perhaps one of the coolest talents to come out in recent years and his Christmas album from 2011 has a great vibe to it.

You’ll hear all the classic Christmas tunes from Jingle Bells to White Christmas. Bublé’s version of the pop song All I Want for Christmas Is You is one of the highlights of the album.

4. Pentatonix – That’s Christmas To Me

One of the most exciting new Christmas albums has to be That’s Christmas To Me by Pentatonix. This American a cappella quintet published the album just this year and it has already become one of the most sold holiday albums.

The group’s beautiful performances currently have over 6.7 million Youtube subscribers, and the compositions of classic songs are both traditional and new. The group’s version of Silent Night is especially touching.

5. Bob Dylan – Christmas in the Heart

Bob Dylan’s Christmas album is a great pick if you are looking for something a bit different, as his grizzly vocals aren’t the first thing you’d associate with heart-warming Christmas songs. Dylan manages to make it work and Christmas in the Heart is well-worth listening to.

His version of the The First Noel makes you hear the song in a new light and you’ll suddenly fall in love with these classic songs all over again. If you need a festive cheer, then put on Must Be Santa.

If the above albums put you in a creative mood, then check out our video lessons for guitar and saxophone. You can soon put your own spin on classic Christmas songs!