It was written and produced by Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger, while Dominique Durand also contributed to the lyrics and Peter Nashel handled additional production.

Ted Jensen handled the mastering of "I Hate December" (and the rest of the material on Lately) at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City.

[7] In his book The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock, Robbins and Vickie Gilmer summarized it as an "original [...] wah-wahing" song recorded in the "City of Lights".

[10] Indi from Canadian Atheist remarked that the single is "lovely" and applauded Ivy for disobeying the rules of a traditional holiday song.

[11] The black and white video opens with Ivy performing live at a restaurant, continuing until the bridge of the song, when blurry close-ups of the band members are shown.