In early 2017, Scott McCaughey was asked to write some holiday songs for another artists holiday album. He became so inspired by the task that he wrote more than an albums worth of material and decided to record that album with his group, The Minus 5, a rotating line-up of musician friends that McCaughey recruits to join him from time-to-time. The resulting album, Dear December, brings holiday cheer and a fresh batch of great songs featuring collaborations with Ben Gibbard (death Cab for Cutie), Peter Buck, Mike Mills, The Posies, Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Chuck Prophet, M. Ward, Tammy Ealom (Dressy Bessy), Kurt Bloch, Kelly Hogan and Norah OConnor.