Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, the Duluth, Minn., couple at the core of the band Low, put on Wednesday night what was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining Christmas concerts that’s ever happened to the Bowery Ballroom. If the audience departed happily into the night full of holiday spirit, they did so thanks to a band known for making very slow and sad music.

Currently on a short tour to showcase music from their forthcoming eighth album, “Drums & Guns,” which is set for a March 20 release on Sub Pop, Low opened with “Special Gift,” from their 1999 album “Christmas,” before moving on to new material — and finally ending with a full set of Christmas tunes. Fans of the band will want to know whether the new album delves further into the postrock territory they charted two years ago on “The Great Destroyer”; the answer is both yes and no.

They’ve certainly been busy. Mr. Sparhawk has not only traveled to Kenya, where he is helping build a school for adult literacy (some of his concerts during the last few years have funded this project), but he’s also been working on several musical projects apart from Low, and earlier this year he quietly released a solo album titled “Solo Guitar.” It’s fair to think that after the departure from Low’s formula, fans might be expecting a return to form, especially after hearing Mr. Sparhawk’s meditative solo work.

Judging by the six new songs played Wednesday, Low remains dedicated to trying new things while staying close to their established aesthetic. “Belarus,” the first new song they played, included a sample (not typical for this band) over which Ms. Parker kept a simple beat on the edge of her snare drum while the bassist Matt Livingston repeated an equally simple chord. Mr. Sparhawk’s plaintive lyrics were well matched to this simplicity. On one of the evening’s best songs, the lively “Sandinista,” Mr. Sparhawk asked, “Where would you go if a gun fell in your hands” and sang, “Oh Sandinista, take my side.” To this, Ms. Parker added big punches from the bass drum, and Mr. Sparhawk ended the song with some bluesy guitar flourishes.

But this hushed affair came to an end with the fourth song of the evening. Though Ms. Parker sang quietly in the background, she was hardly audible over Mr. Sparhawk’s boisterous rock ‘n’ roll lyrics and loud guitar. The song never quite came together, and when Mr. Sparhawk blurted out an unconvincing “that was alright” after it ended, there seemed some potential that wasn’t well conveyed. We’ll have to wait for the album to find out.

The other three songs off the new album were excellent.”Dragonfly,””Violent Past,” and “Take Your Time” are all simple and beautiful songs that have something new or not typical about them. “Take Your Time,” for example, is quite heavy, with a touch of sludge in the rhythm. Taken together, the songs proved something more: The invention of drama and mood through silences and shifts of volume confirmed that this music remains, essentially, minimal.

The show had been billed as “Low and Friends,” and for the second half, eight musicians joined the trio onstage. Mr. Sparhawk introduced additional string players (cello, violin, guitar) and percussionists as “friends from Duluth” who have “never been to New York City.”

The crammed stage turned out Christmas songs for the remainder of the evening. They had lots of fun, and the audience loved it. Holiday lights around the stage blinked during an excitable performance of “Just Like Christmas,” and almost every song was a highlight. The only thing that seemed to be missing was eggnog at the bar.

Ms. Parker did her rendition of “Blue Christmas” to a slide guitar; there was a heavy version of “Santa’s Coming Over”; and the band even did a “Sufi Christmas song” which was Richard Thompson’s “For Shame of Doing Wrong.” The finale was a very moving “Merry Christmas (War Is Over).” Because it seemed impossible to top this gleeful tone, I hoped there wouldn’t be an encore, but the audience demanded it, and the musicians returned to play Low’s famously haunting “Little Drummer Boy.” A second encore, which the audience again demanded, somewhat spoiled the mood, as the band didn’t have anymore Yuletide songs prepared.

Low certainly managed to deliver the “something new” they promised at the beginning of the evening, telling their fans “we know you’ve been patient.” Moreover, they confirmed that there was never a reason to doubt them in the first place. After more than a decade together, these musicians remain as creative as ever.