Thomas Rhett Drops New Christmas Songs, Including the Original ‘Christmas in the Country’

It’s already Christmas for Thomas Rhett! The singer-songwriter just dropped two new Christmas songs, including an original, “Christmas in the Country,” as well as his take on the classic “The Christmas Song.”

“Christmas is hands-down my favorite time of year,” Rhett said in a statement. “We have so many Christmas traditions in our family that include a lot of festive music, but I’ve never recorded anything myself. Lauren has wanted me to make some Christmas music for a long time, so this year felt like the right time to finally take a stab at writing something and to put my own twist on one of the all-time classics.”

Rhett credits his wife, Lauren Akins, with convincing him to record some holiday tunes, which he admits she has been asking for for several years.

“My wife’s been on me to record a Christmas album or EP for a long time,” Rhett previously revealed to PEOPLE. “And so we went in the studio and I recorded a classic and then I wrote an original.”

Rhett wanted to write something that would be part of fans’ holiday seasons for years to come, even though that was a daunting task to actually achieve.

“It’s kind of impossible to write a classic,” Rhett acknowledged. “You just hope that it’s cool enough to survive one year and maybe it’ll get played next year. I think my dream in life would be to write a classic Christmas song that gets played until my kids are older.”

Rhett and Akins are especially excited about celebrating Christmas this year with their daughters Will Gray and Ada James, while they eagerly prepare for the arrival of their third child, also a girl, early next year.

“We’re all really excited,” Rhett enthused “Before I had kids, I never really imagined that I would be this at peace with two and one on the way. I thought I’d be like, ‘What in the world is happening?’ Me and Lauren were actually talking the other day about, even though our lives are insanely chaotic and we never really stop going and we just keep growing our family, we really do feel right now that we’re at a more peaceful spot than we’ve ever been. Maybe we found the calm in the crazy somehow.”

Both “Christmas in the Country” and “The Christmas Song” are available to download or stream via his website.

Photo Credit: Getty / Terry Wyatt