New Christmas songs for 2021, including Ed Sheeran and Elton John, ABBA and George Ezra

It’s that time of year when loads of festive favourites edge their way towards the chart again - which means songs from across several generations of pop competing against each other on the Official Christmas Chart.

Now that both Mariah and Wham have finally achieved Number 1 with their classics, we at Official Charts are looking to see which of the Christmas-themed releases hope to join them this year. Check out a few highlights below, and a longer playlist at the bottom of the page.

Ed Sheeran & Elton John - Merry Christmas

Both Ed and Elton have spent time at the top in 2021, so a combination of the pair of them looks set to – putting in mildly – do quite well. Ed himself has had chart-toppers in Decembers past with Thinking Out Loud in 2014 and a Christmas Number 1 Perfect in 2017 - can he go all the way again this year?

Elton himself has seen his 1973 hit Step Into Christmas gradually crawl up to new best position of 8 in recent years too, but has never had a Christmas Number 1. Could that change this year? Ed said of their duet Merry Christmas: "It has sleigh bells... a lot of them." Just what we were hoping for, then.

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande - Santa Can You Hear Me? 

Kelly’s Underneath The Tree from 2013 is one of the more recent additions to the festive canon to accumulate chart interest, reaching a new peak of Number 15 in December 2020. Having just released her second collection of holiday songs titled When Christmas Comes Around, the peppy, pass-agg Santa Can You Hear Me? is proving very popular this year, and could feasibly be jostling among the jingle too this year.

Sigrid – Home To You (This Christmas)

Norwegian pop titan Sigrid has updated her Home To You song, which took off after it was used in the 2021 Olympics BBC highlights earlier this year. She’s now made it even cosier and slightly blubsome by sprinkling it with a bit of festive fairy dust and a pair of brackets as Home To You (This Christmas). It has all the makings of a modern standard and could become a regular returnee to the Official Singles Chart in Decembers to come.

The Lathums – Krampus

Hoping to spectacularly finish off a chart-topping 2021, when their album How Beautiful Life Can Be was an Official Album Chart Number 1 in October, are Wigan’s The Lathums. Krampus was inspired by an Inside No.9 episode, and is a rollicking anti-festive number which sounds not unlike The Smiths with sleighbells attached. It’s a thank you to their increasing legion of fans, and the tone of begrudgingly going along with festivities will be something many people can relate to.

Mariah Carey - Fall In Love At Christmas

The queen of Christmas finally made it to Number 1 with All I Want For Christmas Is You last year, and it’s a no-brainer to suggest that her 1994 evergreen will be near the top again in 2021. Could Fall In Love At Christmas featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin usurp AIWFCIY and find itself battling against it? Last year’s Oh Santa team-up with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson topped out at Number 67, so it’s anybody’s guess.

Leona Lewis - Kiss Me It’s Christmas ft. Ne-Yo

Leona’s 2013 toe-tap One More Sleep is another recent-ish addition to the pantheon, and has enjoyed an afterlife thanks to streaming. Kiss Me It’s Christmas could join that too, being a sentimental canoodle with Ne-Yo. It’s also a new track added to what she’s calling a ‘repack’ of her album Christmas With Love, Always.

Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow ft. Sheridan Smith - How Christmas is Supposed to Be

Taken from what has been billed as Gary’s ‘first Christmas album’ – which you can either take as a treat or a threat – The Dream of Christmas, How Christmas is Supposed to Be sees him call on great showbiz mate Sheridan Smith for a seasonal duet, and while Gary has had form in previous years, such as 1993’s near-miss of Take That’s Babe becoming the Christmas Number 1, relinquishing the spot to the then-voguish delights of Mr Blobby, so anything is possible.

ABBA – Little Things

One of 2021’s greatest back. Back. BACK! stories, ABBA have thrown their hat into the ring with the twinkling sweetness of Little Things. They’ve kind of had a Christmas Number 1 in the past, when their I Have A Dream was covered by Westlife and hit the top in 1999, and Little Things has everything going for it – a children’s choir, mentions of Santa and trees – although it’s feasible that people might be expecting a copy of their Number 1 album Voyage in their stocking instead.

That said, ABBA do like a physical copy, and with a CD release of the song on December 3, it stands every chance of being a hit and having a healthier afterlife for Christmas future than their amazing-yet-slightly-gloomy Happy New Year.

Michael Bublé - The Christmas Sweater

The most swingingest swinger Bublé has staked his claim as the King of Christmas in the past decade, with his Christmas album becoming one of the biggest-selling festive collections of all time – indeed this new co-penned by the man himself track is part of a tenth anniversary deluxe edition. His biggest single success has been his take on It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, which reached Number 7 last year and this year finally gets the music video treatment.

Michael Buble

George Ezra - Come on Home For Christmas

George Ezra enters the Christmas Pop arena for the first time with a reworked take on Charles Brown's Please Come Home For Christmas. Released as part of Amazon’s now traditional festive offerings, it could follow the success of Ellie Goulding’s River and Jess Glynne’s This Christmas to the top this year. With this wedged into Echo and Alexa playlists, expect this one to do quite well. Available to stream exclusively on Amazon Music now.

Camila Cabello - I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Another Amazon exclusive comes from Camila Cabello, who has be-lunged a new version of Bing Crosby's I'll Be Home For Christmas. Camila has scored a pair of Official Chart Number 1s and the prospect of her crooning the Crosby classic is highly attractive, and will also very possibly see her among the Slades and Wizzards this year.

Listen to a selection of new Christmas songs released in 2021 on Spotify below: