Whether it’s Amy Grant, Nat King Cole, The Carpenters, or Bing Crosby – we are often very nostalgic when it comes to Christmas music. And while the old favorites are great, let’s not miss out on some high-quality brand new Christmas releases.  And since most people have a limited bandwidth for new Christmas music, we will help guide you in the right direction.  Right now we proudly present the 6 Best Christmas Albums of 2023.

1. A Mercyland Christmas – Phil Madeira & friends

In the spirit of the Grammy-winning Mercyland series, Phil Madeira has put together a wonderful collection of songs and artists that celebrates a contemplative approach to the holidays – undoubtedly faith-haunted yet accessible even to those with no faith at all.  There’s one Advent hymn performed wonderfully by The McCrary Sisters.  The other 13 tracks are originals performed by a stellar lineup, including Sixpence None The Richer, The Choir, Sandra McCracken, Tommy Sims, Jars of Clay, and several more.  A Mercyland Christmas is the #1 best Christmas album released in 2023.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

2. The Hopes & Fears of All the Years – Paul Demer

The Advent season is a wonderful time to enjoy the hynns that have stood for generations and continue to point us to the Savior.  On Paul Demer’s latest project, he took some very familiar hymns (e.g. “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem”) and added in a few lesser-celebrated hymns (e.g. “What Star is This with Beams So Bright”) and included one holiday standard and one original.  It’s all done in a warmly acoustic style that will go well with some hot cocoa and a crackling fire.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

3. Christmas – Mac Powell

If you listened to Christian music in the 90s or 00s, you know Mac Powell as one of the most recognizable voices in the genre as the former lead singer of the Grammy award-winning band Third Day. On this 5-song EP, he’s less southern rocker, and more of an Appalachian front-porch crooner – including a nice variety of one holiday standard, one cover, and three originals.  It’s produced in a lovely (not too glossy) style – and Mac’s vocal pipes haven’t missed a beat.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

4. Like A Child – Blessing Offor

One of the freshest new artists in faith-based music in the last two years has been Blessing Offor.  This holiday EP hits another home run with his unique brand of bluesy, soulful, gospel delivery.  We’ve all probably heard a dozen versions of the Wings song “Wonderful Christmastime” – and I think Blessing’s version might be the best I’ve ever heard… could easily be a Top 40 hit.  There’s only one flaw in the project: with only three tracks, we wish it was longer.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

5. Vol.8 Advent Christmas Epiphany – The Soil & The Seed Project

This music collective is based in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and since 2021 has been creating music and resources to encourage faith formation – and they give their content away for free.  Their 8th project is all Christmas music – and besides one update of a 15th Century hymn it is all originals.  Most of the lyrics are directly pulled from Scripture as well.  You’ll find a good variety of arrangements throughout.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

6. Christmas Morning Magic – Hollyn

Ohio-native and Gotee Records artist Hollyn has been releasing music for eight years, and often her style of music is shrouded in dance hooks and heavy production.  She went a different direction with this 8-track holiday album (unfortunately NOT released on 8-track).  The instrumentation is more acoustic, the production pulled way back, and a much more vocal-centric project (and she can SANG!).  It boasts no originals, but some truly stellar versions of standards and carols.  [SPOTIFY]  [YOUTUBE]

Lists like these are great discussion starters.  Which of these projects are new favorite discoveries for your 2023 holiday season?  Are there any other brand new Christmas albums that would make your list?

Listen to the audio countdown of this list on Episode 92 of the Gourmet Music Podcast (releasing 12/1/23).  Some of these albums are also represented on the newly updated Christmas Songs of Faith playlist.