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.ย With new records from Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys and Debbie Gibson, there's something forย everyone at the table.
2022 holiday album guide
Updated
The Associated Press reviews a roundup of albums of new Christmas โ and Hanukkah โ music from Alicia Keys, Chris Isaak, Pentatonix, Backstreet Boys and more. Reviewer Martina Inchingolo says Alicia Keys' album is โcheeky and cozy" and Armstrong's โLouis Wishes You a Cool Yuleโ 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 โ and thankful for new music.
Alicia Keys, โSanta Babyโ (Alicia Keys Records)
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Alicia Keysโ Christmas album debut โSanta Babyโ 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, โDecember Back 2 June," a joyous Alicia Keys wears bubble ponytails and a metallic suit, singing โChristmas is all the time when Iโm with you.โ
Ending with โAve Maria,โ 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 youโre 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.
โ Martina Inchingolo
Chris Isaak, โEverybody Knows Itโs Christmasโ (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 โEverybody Knows Itโs Christmas,โ 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 โWinter Wonderlandโ and โJingle Bell Rockโ with exuberant style, but they also dial up rockabilly cuts like โRun Rudolph Runโ and an original called โAlmost Christmasโ that fits right in. Thereโs not an earworm in the bunch, which can be a rarity for a holiday album.
Isaakโs 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, isnโt Christmas supposed to be fun?
โ Scott Stroud
โPickinโ On Christmas,โ Davis Causey & Jay Smith (Strolling Bones Records)
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More than two decades after it was recorded, โPickinโ On Christmasโ 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 itโs 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 โSilver Bells/Silent Nightโ settles into a boogie rhythm pushed by drummer Jeff Reilly, and features what sounds like at least five guitars. Another innovative interpretation, โWe Three Kings/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,โ combines funky syncopation with three guitars improvising simultaneously.
Thereโs plenty of variety. The one original tune, the serene โFollowing a Star,โ includes a synth guitar part by Causey that sounds like a cello, while Randall Bramblett contributes a sprightly soprano sax part on โWhat Child Is This?โ โLittle Drummer Boyโ mixes Causeyโs resonator guitar and Smithโs 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.
โ Steven Wine
Joss Stone, โMerry Christmas, Loveโ (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?
โMerry Christmas, Loveโ is a brilliant addition to the holiday cannon with Stoneโs seemingly effortless takes on 13 classics, breathing new life into โWhite Christmasโ and โLet It Snow.โ 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 โIn The Bleak Midwinterโ youโll ever hear and an absolutely joyous take on Irving Berlinโs โSnow.โ
Stone shows exquisite control and tone on โHark! The Herald Angels Singโ and leaves the beauty of โAway in a Mangerโ unadorned. One of the new ones, โIf You Believe,โ borrows a beat from โThe Little Drummer Boyโ but soars, at the end unleashing that Ferrari.
The album ends with a tricky one โ โSilent Night.โ And Stone absolutely smashes it, with sonic fireworks. This collection needs to be on repeat this holiday โ and next.
โ Mark Kennedy
Debbie Gibson, โWinterliciousโ (Stargirl Records)
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Writing your own Christmas songs must be a daunting, task but that hasnโt stopped Debbie Gibson. Thank goodness.
The singer who gave us โOnly in My Dreamsโ offers โWinterlicious,โ her first ever holiday album. Itโs an eclectic set, mixing classics with originals, including a duet with her dad, a new Hanukkah song โ big points for inclusion, Ms. Gibson โ and ends with an emotional and super New Yearโs Eve song, โCheers.โ
One highlight is a rare Christmas break-up song โ she and New Kids on the Blockโs Joey McIntyre co-wrote the terrific โHeartbreak Holiday.โ Other Gibson originals like โJingle Those Bells,โ โChristmas Starโ and โChristmas Dreamsโ deserve to be on your holiday rotation and her cover of โThe Candy Manโ is a great showcase for her Broadway-ready voice.
The duet with Joe Gibson on โWhite Christmasโ is painful โ sorry, dad โ but the driving, over-the-top and maybe even naughty arrangement of โGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemenโ goes down well. This is an album thatโs got something for everyone.
โ Mark Kennedy
Backstreet Boys, โA 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 โWhite Christmas,โ โWinter Wonderlandโ and โLast Christmas," while slow staples, like โSilent Nightโ and โO Holy Night,โ give the singers a chance to show off their angelic voices.
In addition, the band gifts their fans with their own original Christmas song โHappy Days.โ They sing โWeโre gonna party like itโs โ99,โ and, honestly, there probably isnโt 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 wonโt 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.
โ Martina Inchingolo
Pentatonix, โHolidays Around the Worldโ (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 โHolidays Around the World,โ 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 โItโs the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearโ and โLast Christmasโ (feat. HIKAKIN & SEIKIN).
Out of the original songs on the album, โKid on Christmasโ (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.
โ Karena Phan
Louis Armstrong, โLouis Wishes You a Cool Yuleโ (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 โA Visit from St Nicholasโ (also popularly known as โThe Night Before Christmasโ).
Now, the never before released recording, featuring Armstrongโs growly, familiar voice, is accompanied by a musical underbed from New Orleans pianist, Sullivan Fortner.
The track is part of Louis Armstrongโs first Christmas album called โLouis Wishes You a Cool Yule." Including nine holiday classics recorded by the artist, plus his memorable masterpiece โWhat a Wonderful World."
The musicianโs work has been proven to pass the test of time and itโs still able to this day to keep that naรฏve 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: โHappy Christmas to all and to all a good night . . . A very good night.โ
โ Martina Inchingolo
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