Admit it – you or someone you know has already started complaining that they “hate” Christmas music.

Unfortunately, I get it. Despite my unnatural vulnerability to the most overplayed of Christmas classics, the holiday scrooges among us have a point. The same decaying holiday jingles have been incessantly echoing our ears for more than 50 years in some cases, yet the Christmas music market still seems stubbornly impenetrable. But what can we do about it?

Fortunately for us all, there are plenty of original or creatively reimagined holiday jingles that get released on a yearly basis that simply receive no airtime or recognition. Their inability to pervade the Christmas market oligopoly may be frustrating, but their unique novelty gives them a similar value to spicing up that tall glass of eggnog with a lively dash of alcoholic fun juice.

I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again: new Christmas songs are tough to swallow. Unfamiliarity with a song’s lyrics/tempo and the subsequent inability to sing along removes the camaraderie that most would classify as “the holiday spirit.” Essentially taking caroling out of the equation is going to turn off the holiday traditionalist faster than you can say “Feliz Navidad.” Pressing play on the playlist below therefore requires you to have an open mind and a merry temperament. In short, leave that coal-seeking attitude at the door my friends.

So Instead of complaining your way straight to the naughty list, take the high holiday road! Get yourself nice and cozy, be prepared to tap away on your bloated post-Thanksgiving stomach like it’s a jolly ‘ole drum, and join me in exploring what I’d consider to be some of the best original or completely remodeled Christmas songs from the past several years.

If you’re like me and a 20 song playlist barely scrapes the surface of your holiday desires, I’ve got some great news. You can check out the original 2016 post A Very FeenyFresh Christmas to unearth an entirely different playlist of modern and creative holiday songs.