The 100 best Christmas songs of all time

Erasure, Bells of Love (Isabelle’s of Love) (2013) – With lyrics that include the line “I don’t believe in your religion/ I only know what I can see”, Bells of Love – from Erasure’s minimalist, determinedly secular 2013 Christmas album Snow Globe – offers an unusual, synth-pop take on a seasonal song. According to Erasure’s Vince Clarke, the track was his response to John Lennon’s Imagine. When asked about the inspiration behind the song, the keyboardist said: “Although I don’t really like John Lennon’s music, I was thinking of his signature tracks like Imagine. That is a brilliant song.” Rebecca Hawkes

Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler, Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing) (2011) – Ash frontman Wheeler and his folk-singer girlfriend Emmy the Great teamed up in 2011 for one of the finest albums of Christmas originals in recent memory. Firstly, because no one makes them anymore, secondly because both looked brilliant in snug Christmaswear on the album’s cover – but also because the album featured songs like this. Shot through with Wheeler’s coruscating melodies, Christmas Day finds the pair “dreaming of the breakers” amid warming ooo-aah harmonies and power-pop bounce. James Lachno

View the full list here at The Telegraph

Find Christmas Songs, good, bad & ugly, on vinyl and CDs here at eil.com