Listen to Sufjan Stevens’ New Song “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)”

Halloween may be barely behind us, but Sufjan Stevens is already in the holiday spirit. Today, the singer announced a new compilation, Worst Christmas Ever!, due November 6 via Asthmatic Kitty. The 16-track collection compiles a mix of Yuletide standards done up Stevens style (“Angels We Have Heard on High (Christmas Infinity Voyage Version)”) and originals from his extensive holiday catalog. Among them is a newly unearthed vault track, “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better),” which you can listen to below.

Stevens’ love for Christmas is no new passion—according to a statement, he has written and recorded more than 100 Christmas songs since 2001. Worst Christmas Ever! features a number of tracks that previously appeared on his Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1-5 and the 2012 box set Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10. Collaborators across the record include the National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, Cat Martino, Gabriel Kahane, and Casey Foubert.

Although Stevens hasn’t debuted a new album since 2023’s Javelin, he has remained active on the release front. In 2024, he shared a 20th anniversary reissue of Seven Swans. Last year, he celebrated a decade of Carrie & Lowell with its own reissue, and released the song “Heaven Thunder” with Mina Tindle. In September, Stevens made a surprise appearance at Meg Lui’s show in Kingston, New York, marking his first public musical performance in over eight years, following a 2023 diagnosis with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves.

Worst Christmas Ever!:
01 Silent Night
02 Put The Lights On The Tree
03 Holly Jolly Christmas
04 Christmas In The Room
05 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Christmas Infinity Voyage Version)
06 Sister Winter
07 Joy To The World
08 On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)
09 Angels We Have Heard On High (Christmas Infinity Voyage Version)
10 Only At Christmas Time
11 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Christmas Unicorn Version)
12 That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!
13 Sleigh Ride
14 Justice Delivers Its Gift
15 Auld Lang Syne
16 Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages)

Sufjan Stevens: Worst Christmas Ever!

Hattie Lindert is an associate staff writer at Pitchfork. A former editor at Resident Advisor, she has written for Rolling Stone, The FACE and The A.V. Club, among others. She’s based in New York, and born and raised in Vermont. ... Read More