Sufjan Stevens has a different Christmas gift in mind: an apology. His new single, “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better),” now sits at the center of Worst Christmas Ever!, the holiday compilation released on November 6 through Asthmatic Kitty.
The song arrived on November 2, and the label identifies it as Stevens’ first new Christmas song written, produced and performed by him in nearly 15 years. That makes it the new chapter in this collection, not another recording rescued from the archive.
“I love the idea of a Christmas apology,” Stevens says in the single’s announcement. He describes forgiveness as something worth giving and receiving alongside presents, framing the track as a prayer for greater understanding.
That is a more interesting seasonal proposition than pretending everyone gets along once the decorations go up. The title’s promise of improvement comes with a responsibility: somebody has to be willing to say sorry first.
For anyone who knows Stevens through his nonseasonal records, the new release also clears a path into a daunting Christmas catalog. According to Asthmatic Kitty’s release-day account, his holiday recordings began in 2001 as gifts for family and friends, eventually growing into more than 100 recordings.
The first five volumes became Songs for Christmas in 2006; five more followed as Silver & Gold in 2012. Worst Christmas Ever! draws 15 selections from those collections and adds the new single, so this is a smaller doorway into that world rather than a third sprawling box set.
If you want to follow the thread beyond the new song, “Sister Winter,” “Christmas in the Room” and “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” are all on the compilation. The last of those is an older song, despite its title supplying the new collection’s name; “On This Christmas” is the new addition.
The older recordings brought in friends and musical peers, including Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Richard Reed Parry. Those names belong to the wider holiday archive, not a guest list for this single, which the label credits to Stevens himself.
There is no need to tackle the entire Christmas back catalog at once. Start with the apology, then work backward.
