10 Essential Holiday Albums & Singles for Christmas 2020 A banner year in music has wrapped up with ten solid holiday offerings. By Sean Maunier on December 28, 2020 A Holly Dolly Christmas The Christmas album is often loved for the same reasons it’s hated — it’s just easy. At one of the busiest and most stressful periods of the year, the appeal of renditions of songs that have been played every year can’t be understated. Holiday music is by and large relatively easy to record, with few artists bothering to pull off a Mariah Carey with original material, and just as easy to listen to for a quick hit of seasonal joy. It’s often just as easy to forget, but 2020 brought an unusually strong crop of holiday albums and singles that deserve a listen before the holiday playlists are archived until next December.