25 beloved holiday albums to rediscover this winter

A Very Kacey Christmas – Kacey Musgraves

It seems like Christmas and country go together as well as cookies and milk! Kacey Musgraves took her country-pop sound to the holiday genre in 2016 with her album A Very Kacey Christmas and she has no regrets about it, telling Rolling Stone it was “one of the most enriching musical experiences.” Honestly, who wouldn’t love doing a Christmas album?

Kacey took her holiday aesthetic in a more vintage direction, more of a throwback to the nostalgic albums of years ago. She blended lots of genres and even had a duet with Willie Nelson on the original track “A Willie Nice Christmas”. Along with the four originals, Kacey also performed eight traditional Christmas songs, including the lesser-covered tracks “Mele Kalikimaka” (featuring The Quebe Sisters) and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, which gives the album a bit of youthful whimsy!

Kacey’s risk paid off, because her vintage Christmas collection earned her rave reviews from critics, with some calling it “playful” and “warm”. Despite the album’s nostalgic feel, critics still felt like it was a fresh take on the holiday classics that could get lots of traction for years to come. That’s definitely something you want critics to say about your Christmas album, because what good is it if it’s only a hit one year and then it falls off the face of the Earth by the next?

While she didn’t have her own TV Christmas special like some of the artists on this list, Kacey did promote A Very Kacey Christmas on CMA’s Country Christmas in 2016.