THE SOUND OF DECEMBER.

Christmas music plays every year, yet it rarely stays exactly the same. A song you heard as a child can suddenly evoke memories years later of a different house or a different table. On vinyl, that ritual becomes tangible: taking the record out of its sleeve, flipping it over, and listening together.

The music ranges from the pop of Mariah Carey to the gospel and soul of Whitney Houston. Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley belong to an older generation of Christmas records; Kelly Clarkson gives the season her own voice. In this way, THE CHRISTMAS. is not a single sound, but a collection of ways to hear December.

Lily Allen also belongs in this chapter. Her rendition of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know was featured in the 2013 The Bear and the Hare Christmas campaign. The song was not originally a Christmas track; it was the new context that gave it a place in December for many listeners. Read her Artist Story for the tale behind that performance.

Also read CHRISTMAS ON REPEAT. about the songs that keep coming back. Or choose an album below that will land on your turntable for the first time this year.