Though I can recall some examples to the contrary, old dear Santa Claus must think I’ve been a very good boy this year.

Last week, English synthpop trio [STRANGERS] reached out to me, offering to debut their original Christmas song, “This Year,” via Popservations. I can’t imagine anything else topping that before December 25 rolls around.

The just-unwrapped “This Year,” as you’ll hear, is properly moody at the start — so very [STRANGERS] — before turning quite hopeful, like a mini Christmas miracle. I asked frontman David Maddox-Jones about the inspiration behind the song, and couldn’t resist asking him to name the tunes that mean the most to him this time of year.

Why was [STRANGERS] inspired to write and record an original Christmas song? Not an easy undertaking!

“We saw writing a Christmas song as a bit of a challenge, to see if we could write a decent one! Without being really obviously about Christmas we made it more about this time of year. We didn’t use the words tinsel or mistletoe so we think we at least deserve credit for resisting those.”

Credit duly given! They wouldn’t quite fit the mood, since “This Year” isn’t all ‘merry-this’ and ‘happy-that.’ What about this time of year were you trying to capture?

“We wanted ‘This Year’ to have that haunting, epic winter vibe, and get across both sadness and hope, with that sing-a-long chorus that you need at Christmas.”

You’ve certainly captured all of that, and quite wonderfully, I must add. I’m a big fan of such ‘lonely Christmas’ tunes. What are a few of your favorite Christmas songs, of any variety?

“‘Fairytale Of New York’ by The Pogues, ‘Mad World’ — Gary Jules’ version, and ‘Stop The Cavalry’ by Jona Lewie.”

No tinsel or mistletoe in those, for sure. An attention-grabbing trio — just like [STRANGERS]!

Listen to and grab a free download of [STRANGERS]’ brilliant Christmas tune, “This Year,” destined to become your new fave: