8 new holiday albums to add to your playlist this year
From the The ultimate 2022 holiday gift guide: Books, movies, and more for everyone on your list series
It's time to update that dusty old holiday playlist.Β With new records from Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys and Debbie Gibson, there's something forΒ everyone at the table.
2022 holiday album guide
Updated
The Associated Press reviews a roundup of albums of new Christmas β and Hanukkah β music from Alicia Keys, Chris Isaak, Pentatonix, Backstreet Boys and more. Reviewer Martina Inchingolo says Alicia Keys' album is βcheeky and cozy" and Armstrong's βLouis Wishes You a Cool Yuleβ is the best Christmas present for his fans. Reviewer Scott Stroud said Isaak brings the rockabilly to Christmas classics. Unwrap a new record that you'll be thankful for.
So pull out the record player, light some candles and get festive β and thankful for new music.
Alicia Keys, βSanta Babyβ (Alicia Keys Records)
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Alicia Keysβ Christmas album debut βSanta Babyβ is as cheeky, cozy and captivating, as the classic it is named after.
For a holiday fanatic like me, there is nothing more heartwarming than Christmas songs. However, Keys is able to take a holiday favorite and improve it with her vocals and R&B twist.
So, like a square of butter over a freshly baked tower of pancakes, my heart sweetly melts into a sugary puddle.
The 15-time Grammy winner wraps those beloved old Christmas songs with originals, sure to join the pantheon of the glorious jolly songs. In the music video for the song, βDecember Back 2 June," a joyous Alicia Keys wears bubble ponytails and a metallic suit, singing βChristmas is all the time when Iβm with you.β
Ending with βAve Maria,β the artist risks it all, by taking a slow classic and adding a soul vibe with a recurring drum beat that makes an already solemn song into something fresh and beautiful.
Like that perfect black sweater in your wardrobe, this album goes with everything, whether youβre feeling like snuggling under a blanket drinking hot tea or preparing yourself for a winter date. This album has it all: The sexy, the homey and the nostalgic.
β Martina Inchingolo
Chris Isaak, βEverybody Knows Itβs Christmasβ (Sun Records/Virgin UMG)
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Fresh off a lifetime achievement award from the Americana Music Association, singer Chris Isaak is in a festive mood. It only makes sense that his next project would be a holiday album.
On βEverybody Knows Itβs Christmas,β Isaak, who has built a career ranging comfortably between rockabilly and doo-wop, applies his distinctive talent to 13 holiday tracks in the Sun Studio style.
Isaak and his backup band, who are touring behind the album, take up familiar tunes like βWinter Wonderlandβ and βJingle Bell Rockβ with exuberant style, but they also dial up rockabilly cuts like βRun Rudolph Runβ and an original called βAlmost Christmasβ that fits right in. Thereβs not an earworm in the bunch, which can be a rarity for a holiday album.
Isaakβs music can feel lightweight, but he succeeds by never taking himself too seriously. He always seems to do things just for the fun of it, and this album is no exception. And hey, isnβt Christmas supposed to be fun?
β Scott Stroud
βPickinβ On Christmas,β Davis Causey & Jay Smith (Strolling Bones Records)
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More than two decades after it was recorded, βPickinβ On Christmasβ again makes a lovely holiday gift.
In 1998, Athens, Georgia, guitarists Davis Causey and Jay Smith found themselves with little money for presents, so they recorded an album of eight instrumentals for a limited run of 100 CDs, and gave them to friends and family.
Now the set is available on the Strolling Bones label, and itβs full of good cheer and interesting interplay.
With the help of overdubs, Causey and Smith trade licks and engage in creative counterpoint to generate plenty of winter warmth. The festive mash-up βSilver Bells/Silent Nightβ settles into a boogie rhythm pushed by drummer Jeff Reilly, and features what sounds like at least five guitars. Another innovative interpretation, βWe Three Kings/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,β combines funky syncopation with three guitars improvising simultaneously.
Thereβs plenty of variety. The one original tune, the serene βFollowing a Star,β includes a synth guitar part by Causey that sounds like a cello, while Randall Bramblett contributes a sprightly soprano sax part on βWhat Child Is This?β βLittle Drummer Boyβ mixes Causeyβs resonator guitar and Smithβs classical guitar, and several cuts feature blue notes and other jazz colors.
Causey has become a model of longevity, his 60-year career highlighted by work with Kris Kristofferson, Marvin Gaye and Waylon Jennings, among many others. Smith died shortly after these tunes were recorded, which makes the album a poignant holiday celebration of musical kinship.
β Steven Wine
Joss Stone, βMerry Christmas, Loveβ (S-Curve Records)
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Soul singer Joss Stone has released her first album of Christmas songs, to which the only natural reaction is: Why did it take so long to get these chestnuts roasting?
βMerry Christmas, Loveβ is a brilliant addition to the holiday cannon with Stoneβs seemingly effortless takes on 13 classics, breathing new life into βWhite Christmasβ and βLet It Snow.β She also wrote two nifty originals.
Though she has a Ferrari engine, her restraint is admirable, letting the song shine, like one of the prettiest versions of βIn The Bleak Midwinterβ youβll ever hear and an absolutely joyous take on Irving Berlinβs βSnow.β
Stone shows exquisite control and tone on βHark! The Herald Angels Singβ and leaves the beauty of βAway in a Mangerβ unadorned. One of the new ones, βIf You Believe,β borrows a beat from βThe Little Drummer Boyβ but soars, at the end unleashing that Ferrari.
The album ends with a tricky one β βSilent Night.β And Stone absolutely smashes it, with sonic fireworks. This collection needs to be on repeat this holiday β and next.
β Mark Kennedy
Debbie Gibson, βWinterliciousβ (Stargirl Records)
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Writing your own Christmas songs must be a daunting, task but that hasnβt stopped Debbie Gibson. Thank goodness.
The singer who gave us βOnly in My Dreamsβ offers βWinterlicious,β her first ever holiday album. Itβs an eclectic set, mixing classics with originals, including a duet with her dad, a new Hanukkah song β big points for inclusion, Ms. Gibson β and ends with an emotional and super New Yearβs Eve song, βCheers.β
One highlight is a rare Christmas break-up song β she and New Kids on the Blockβs Joey McIntyre co-wrote the terrific βHeartbreak Holiday.β Other Gibson originals like βJingle Those Bells,β βChristmas Starβ and βChristmas Dreamsβ deserve to be on your holiday rotation and her cover of βThe Candy Manβ is a great showcase for her Broadway-ready voice.
The duet with Joe Gibson on βWhite Christmasβ is painful β sorry, dad β but the driving, over-the-top and maybe even naughty arrangement of βGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemenβ goes down well. This is an album thatβs got something for everyone.
β Mark Kennedy
Backstreet Boys, βA Very Backstreet Christmas" (BMG)
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Backstreet Boys have released their first Christmas album and you can thank the pandemic for that.
During lockdown, while everyone was busy baking and working out from home, the boy band was harmonizing jolly classics.
They bring a nostalgic boy band pop twist to beloved songs like βWhite Christmas,β βWinter Wonderlandβ and βLast Christmas," while slow staples, like βSilent Nightβ and βO Holy Night,β give the singers a chance to show off their angelic voices.
In addition, the band gifts their fans with their own original Christmas song βHappy Days.β They sing βWeβre gonna party like itβs β99,β and, honestly, there probably isnβt a more early 2000s pop holiday song than this.
While the album is offering a vast option of well-known classics, the band makes each song its own.
So, being a big Christmas enthusiast wonβt just do it, you have to commit to that cheesy and sentimental pop beat. While I doubt that whoever is not into the boy band genre will curiously stumble into this album, the hardcore fans will definitely be satisfied.
β Martina Inchingolo
Pentatonix, βHolidays Around the Worldβ (RCA Records)
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In what is becoming a steadfast holiday tradition, Pentatonix is back with new music on a new holiday album. The five-member acapella group released βHolidays Around the World,β which explores collaborations with musicians from different cultures around the world.
Each track highlighted the cultures of the different featured artists on the album. Collaborations include Lang Lang, Shreya Ghoshal, Hiba Tawaji, La Santa Cecilia, Lea Salonga and more.
Pentatonix continues to put their own twists on traditional holiday classics, as they have successfully done in past holiday albums. The standouts are βItβs the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearβ and βLast Christmasβ (feat. HIKAKIN & SEIKIN).
Out of the original songs on the album, βKid on Christmasβ (feat. Meghan Trainor) was the clear pop hit with its upbeat chorus. While Christmas seems to be the main holiday celebrated in this album, the uplifting melodies or jolly lyrics in each track will put audiences in the holiday spirit.
β Karena Phan
Louis Armstrong, βLouis Wishes You a Cool Yuleβ (Verve Records)
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If Mariah Carey is the queen of Christmas music, then make space for its king, Louis Armstrong.
Fifty years since the legendary artist passed away, his fans received the best Christmas present they could wish for. Months before his death, the musician recorded himself reciting the poem βA Visit from St Nicholasβ (also popularly known as βThe Night Before Christmasβ).
Now, the never before released recording, featuring Armstrongβs growly, familiar voice, is accompanied by a musical underbed from New Orleans pianist, Sullivan Fortner.
The track is part of Louis Armstrongβs first Christmas album called βLouis Wishes You a Cool Yule." Including nine holiday classics recorded by the artist, plus his memorable masterpiece βWhat a Wonderful World."
The musicianβs work has been proven to pass the test of time and itβs still able to this day to keep that naΓ―ve and childish glow in us from dimming. With this festive album, we get to hold on to that feeling for a little longer and get back to it at every re-listen.
So, as he reads in the new track: βHappy Christmas to all and to all a good night . . . A very good night.β
β Martina Inchingolo
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