Sufjan Stevens is getting his fans into the holiday spirit. He has shared a new single, “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better),” a song that’s built around apology, self-assessment, and asking for forgiveness. It’s an offering from Worst Christmas Ever!, a compilation of Stevens’ indie-Christmas staples, that’s out November 6 via Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Stevens has also dropped a new video he created with Michael O’Neal and Cubby Graham. Fun fact: 6,000 stills were hand-painted for use in the video. Watch it below:

According to Stevens, he wrote the song out of love for a Christmas apology:

“A holiday characterized by the giving and receiving of gifts might be made even better by the giving and receiving of forgiveness. 'I’m sorry' is the ultimate ice-breaker in a moment of conflict, contention, and misunderstanding. Let’s try to be better this year: more loving, forgiving, welcoming, and reckoning. This song is a prayer—that we can all find a way to yield to the wisdom and understanding of forgiveness. I believe the world will find its way.”

Worst Christmas Ever! is an album compiled from over 100 Christmas recordings across the box sets Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold. He started doing this in 2001 as a way to give gifts for his family and friends. The artistic project has evolved into nearly five hours of recorded Christmas songs with various collaborators. Worst Christmas Ever! features favorites like “Sister Winter," "Put The Lights On The Tree," "Only At Christmas Time," "Silver & Gold," "Christmas In The Room," “Silent Night,” and more. 

Worst Christmas Ever! is out November 6. Pre-order here.

The songs on Worst Christmas Ever! were made with a long list of regular collaborators, including Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, Cat Martino, Gabriel Kahane, Casey Foubert, James McAlister, Rosie Thomas, Marla Hansen, Olivier Manchon, Sebastian Krueger, and Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida Smith of Danielson.