The Holly Jollies (Heebie Jeebies)

This piece originally appeared on December 14, 2023 in Sound Signal, our biweekly newsletter that identifies emerging artists, scenes, and trending tracks, crafted by the world's best writers and curators. Sign up here to never miss our take on what's next in music.

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Daniel & The Holly Jollies, North Star Notesmiths, Frosty Nights, Sleighbelle, Dean Snowfield — there’s something fishy going on in Spotify’s Christmastown. These mysteriously festive artists (except for Frosty Nights) have over 1 million monthly listeners and one EP released between September and October of this year. Their top songs have over 1 million streams; Sleighbelle’s “Santa Baby” clocking in at over 3 million.

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I have never been a huge fan of Christmas music (with the exception of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”), but something about these tunes gives me the heebie jeebies.  After coming across Daniel & The Holly Jollies’ “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” via TBC’s trending tracks report, I listened for maybe ten seconds before I had to turn it off. The group’s artist bio alleges that Daniel is “a studio musician with over 19 years in the music business,” and that he “met his Hollie Jollies in New York during a mid-day writing session in 2013 on the lower east side.” Whispers of Winter went unreleased for a decade, and now, tada!, they’re on, like, all of the Christmas playlists.

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Now, no disrespect to these artists, assuming they exist, but: Daniel & The Holly Jollies sounds like fake Justin Bieber (they’re even on the “Christmas Hits” playlist that has young Bieb on the cover), as does Frosty Nights, who claim they’re a duo from Rhode Island and that they covered “Mistletoe” because “Justin Bieber is our mom's favorite.” Dean Snowfield sounds like uncanny valley Dean Martin; the North Star Notesmiths’ “Blue Christmas” is giving AI Elvis; and Sleighbelles are simply a knockoff Eartha Kitt.
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Is it a coincidence that each of their top songs match up with the respective iconic Christmas hits? Why would I “immerse [my]self in the enchanting world of Christmas music with Dean Snowfield”’s low-key creepy Nostalgic Noel when I can put on The Dean Martin Christmas Album instead? I may not love it, but I can attest that the voices of Justin Bieber, Elvis, Eartha Kitt, and Dean Martin are much, much more satisfying—probably because they sound real.

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