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PEEL’s anti-carol “Santa Under the Streetlight” returns for its second Christmas

A Christmas song for anyone who knows the season is about more than glitter and gingerbread

Last winter, Norwegian alternative rock band PEEL slipped a different kind of Christmas song into the festive season. “Santa Under the Streetlight” traded sleigh bells and forced cheer for warm melancholy, nostalgia and the ache of Christmases past. Critics took notice, and the song performed strongly on global radio This year it returns to radio for its second Christmas, for everyone who missed it the first time around.

Mid-tempo and wistful, the track pairs fragile verses with a chorus that swells into something close to a choir, carried by atmospheric guitars, synth textures and PEEL’s trademark dark-shimmering sound. It is a song for the quiet walk home after the party, when the streets are empty and the past feels closer than it should.

The song began years ago as a studio gag between takes one winter. It was never meant to be a PEEL song, but every late November it came back, until the band finally gave in. “It’s a Christmas song, but not a typical one,” the band says. “Think alternative rock with a winter glow, rather than festive pop.”

“It’s about longing for the Christmas stored in your memory bank, your own version of how the holidays are supposed to feel,” says singer and songwriter Pim. “There is a lot of warm melancholy and nostalgia in both the music and the lyrics.”

The track features Norwegian cult guitarist Leif Ottesen, known for his work with Trond Granlund and Henning Kvitnes. “This is the coolest thing I’ve played on in years, Christmas song or not,” says the experienced guitarist. “If you’re going to download one Christmas song this year, it should be this one.”

Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umtRUWRS3hw

About PEEL

Formed in Norway in the early 2000s, PEEL is fronted by singer and guitarist, main songwriter and lyricist Pim, alongside Seb on guitars, production and mixing, and Frikk on backing vocals. Their music blends raw vocals, atmospheric guitars and driving rhythms into songs about human fragility and resilience, songs that feel both intimate and cinematic.

From early releases such as Natalie Somewhere, Breathe, Comes Down OK and Neverending to the 2017 album Ghosts and Shadows and fan favourites (We are) The Wheel, Mirror’s Unreal and Like Sand, PEEL have built a devoted following, known to the band as the “Peelgrims”. Recent releases like “End of Summer EP” with the PEEL classic “Boy with the Oxygen Mask”, the singles Love Phobia (2024), Tears from the Sun (2025) and Modern Age Family Business (2025) have been picked up and played by radio stations from the US, Canada, Brazil, UK to France and Australia.

PEEL have always borrowed from all genres from throughout pop and rock history: dark gothic pop, grungy indie, big-screen prog pop, hardrock, pure pop,classic rock, a bit electronica and alt-rock. The constant is Pim´s songwriting, lyrics and a world that are unmistakably their own – the peeluniverse..That is why the band connects with all kinds of people from the age 0-80, and is mentioned on metal via indie / alt.rock to pop blogs, and gain airplay on commercial pop, rock and indie radio.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3BNrpaw7kylCIn4DPanDzR

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peeluniverse/