Sufjan Stevens Announces New Holiday Album ‘Worst Christmas Ever!’

The 16-track collection brings together selections from Stevens’ extensive Christmas catalogue alongside the previously unreleased ‘On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)’.

Sufjan Stevens has announced a new holiday album, Worst Christmas Ever!, due for release on 6 November via Asthmatic Kitty. The collection features 15 songs drawn from his two sprawling festive box sets, Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold, alongside the previously unheard track ‘On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)’.

Stevens began recording Christmas music in 2001, initially making the songs as gifts for friends and family. The informal sessions generally took place over a week in December, with friends, housemates and fellow musicians joining him at home. What began as a small seasonal project eventually grew into more than 100 recordings and almost five hours of music. The first five volumes were collected as Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1–5 in 2006, followed in 2012 by Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10, featuring material recorded between 2006 and 2010.

Worst Christmas Ever! draws from across both collections, revisiting Stevens’ original songs alongside his interpretations of traditional Christmas music. ‘Sister Winter’, ‘Put the Lights on the Tree’, ‘Only at Christmas Time’ and ‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’ all appear, while the album also includes ‘Christmas in the Room’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Justice Delivers Its Gift’, his reworking of the Burl Ives song ‘Silver and Gold’.

The recordings feature a large cast of previous collaborators, including the National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, Cat Martino, Gabriel Kahane, Casey Foubert, James McAlister, Rosie Thomas, Marla Hansen, Olivier Manchon and Sebastian Krueger. Danielson members Daniel, Elin, Lilly and Ida Smith also contributed to the original sessions.

Discussing his fondness for seasonal music with Vulture in 2022, Stevens said: ‘There are no rules and regulations when it comes to Christmas culture.’ Across his festive catalogue, traditional carols, original compositions, biblical imagery and considerably stranger detours have all been treated as fair game.

Worst Christmas Ever! is available to pre-order now.