15 essential Christmas staples from Mr Stevens own holiday catalog

Worst Christmas Ever!

Sufjan Stevens

€ 29,95

Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Expected release: 6 November 2026

PRE-ORDER ITEM: This item will only be shipped to you on or after 6 November 2026. Please note any orders containing pre-order items won't be shipped until all items are available, so please order this separately to avoid delays. Release dates are at the mercy of labels, distributor, and pressing plants and will change constantly.

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Description

Asthmatic Kitty Records announces Worst Christmas Ever!, a single-album compiling Sufjan Stevens' expansive holiday catalog, out November 6th. Worst Christmas Ever! features 15 essentials of Sufjan’s indie-Christmas staples, drawn from more than 100 Christmas recordings across the box sets Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold, plus the previously unheard track “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better).”

Sufjan first started making Christmas music in 2001. At the time he didn’t plan for those early songs to start a snowball that would lead to nearly five hours of Christmas songs that now make up his holiday catalogue. The intention was simple - make a few Christmas gifts for friends and family. And the process was the same each time: one week in December, usually at home, he’d pull in whoever was around, usually friends, roommates, or musical peers. In 2006, Asthmatic Kitty collected the first five volumes as Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1-5 and in 2012 the label released Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, compiling five more EPs recorded between 2006 and 2010.

Worst Christmas Ever! pulls from across both. The perennial fan favorites are all here: "Sister Winter," "Put The Lights On The Tree," "Only At Christmas Time," and the title track, "That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!." As is "Justice Delivers Its Gift," Sufjan's ecclesiastical take on the Burl Ives classic, "Silver & Gold," "Christmas In The Room," “Silent Night” and more.

The volumes these songs come from were made with a long running cast of collaborators, including Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, Cat Martino, Gabriel Kahane, Casey Foubert, James McAlister, Rosie Thomas, Marla Hansen, Olivier Manchon, Sebastian Krueger, and Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida Smith of Danielson.

Speaking to Vulture about his holiday catalog in 2022, Sufjan put it plainly: "There are no rules and regulations when it comes to Christmas culture." His unguarded enthusiasm for the genre itself, the freedom he takes in celebrating with both reverence and rebellion, and his belief that Christmas music holds a multiplicity of sacred and secular significance that is ultimately ours for the taking make his Christmas catalog a standout.

Tracklist