Song Review: Stray Kids – Christmas Love

Several years ago, Stray Kids took a humorous approach to Christmas with the off-kilter Christmas EveL. It’s rare that a K-pop group releases more than one holiday single, but the guys are back with a treat for their Japanese fans. Christmas Love is far jollier and more obviously targeted to this season. In fact, it may be the most exuberant thing they’ve released in years.

Apart from a brief hip-hop break during verse two, Christmas Love is unrelentingly cheerful. The sleigh bells are turned up to eleven. We’ve got chimes and jaunty percussion and the guys are genuinely belting out the sunny melodies. It’s a bit disarming, but not unwelcome. The song slavishly follows seasonal tropes and is actually at its best when it meets these expectations. The bounding pre-chorus is a lot of fun and the chorus has a rollicking pop energy built for sing-alongs. The outro has the framing and build of a great bridge, but at three minutes I suppose the track had already reached its maximum streaming length.

Grade: B-