I’m not quite sure how the cultural tectonic plates shifted enough to make an LCD Soundsystem holiday special a viable endeavor for corporate investment, but here we are. A portion of the act’s yuletide cheer was delivered as the gleaming gift of a concert film, featuring what is evidently the first live performance of “Christmas Will Break Your Heart.” The song was originally released in its studio version on Christmas Eve, 2015, and it addresses the duly designated Most Wonderful Time of the Year with a finely measured mixture of melancholy and moroseness: “Christmas will wreck your head/ Like some listless awkward sex/ So you refuse to leave your bed/ Get depressed when no one checks.”
I’ve long been partial to holiday songs that bring a little gloom to the season, so this track goes down like satisfyingly stiff egg nog. My mixtape of melodious misery is only getting stronger. Maybe next year Santa will finally bring the definitive version of “I’ll Be Drinking Christmas Dinner All Alone” down the chimney.