59 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Today Is Christmas here (Amazon UK)
I've always enjoyed celebrating Christmas with LeAnn Rimes. She taught us all What A Wonderful World it is back in 2004; she's unleashed a pleasing plethora of seasonal songs dating right back to Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart in 1997; and last year she bought us all together for the One Christmas (Part One) EP - marvelous in so many ways, not least for it's inclusion of I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas. Genius! Something tells me that Ms Rimes is as smitten with the holiday as I am. So I rejoice in the fact that we get a brand new, full album of Christmas music this year in the form of Today Is Christmas. Whether this is One Christmas (Part Two) and she just kept going beyond EP status because she was so busy musically rocking around the Christmas tree we may never know. Nor does it matter because you get an album full of joy, reflection, celebration and love. Really, what more could one ask for?
Deck the halls because LeAnn is starting out by getting us all in the party mood. The title track, Today Is Christmas, is an instantly addictive singalong song that will have you bossa-nova-ing your way onto the dancefloor to shake those hips and shimmy those shoulders (careful not to spill the egg nog). The combination of a more organic sound with ballroom influences makes this an intriguing proposition and one that lingers in your cerebral cortex long after the song has finished. Lyrically LeAnn urges you to live everyday as if it is Christmas; to let the magic and kindness that seems more prevalent at that time of year to be part of your post seasonal spirit. Jingle jingle teases the refrain and it's nigh on impossible to resist. Next up is one of my favourite holiday songs ever - We Need A Little Christmas. Normally this tune (from the musical Mame) is a riotous knees up that is leaves you exhilarated and breathless. Not so here - LeAnn has stripped the song back to it's roots, examined every nuanced word and recrafted it as an elegiac piano-strings ballad. The results are both stunning and extraordinary. Every ounce of fervent longing and melancholy reminiscing is teased out through an achingly plaintive vocal performance while the music swirls gently around the singing, like a winter fog rolling across the moors. Christmas becomes the saviour that people long for, the solution to the problems that invade every day life. It's a mesmerising version of the song, encapsulating with beautiful precision just why this time of year is so special to so many people (myself included). Gorgeous.
The first of two duets on the album features Aloe Blacc (who I presume doesn't need a dollar anymore thanks to his roaring success). That Spirit Of Christmas continues the theme of the album that the anticipation of December 25th really is a spiritual experience that brings out the best in people. Aloe's soulful tones bring a reverent gravitas to the lyrics of the song whilst blending smoothly with LeAnn's gospel-inflected delivery. A finger click and bluesy guitars bring an effusive musical score that ably works to accentuate the fervor of the words being sung. It's so enthusiastic and vivid that your world fades away as you listen to it and you feel like you're in church, clapping along with the choir with that titular spirit of Christmas buoying up your energies. My suggestion - when you've had a bad day sometime around July, dig this song out and give it a whirl because seasonal the title may be but it's message lasts all year long. The second duet features Gavin DeGraw as he and LeAnn sing Celebrate Me Home. It's an instantly timeless gem, thanks to those glorious hammond church organ riffs and an organic, live sounding instrumental that makes the vocals sound like they were recorded right there with the band in the studio.A languid shuffling percussion creates the aura of time slowing down to allow you to capture every single second of the season, every moment that you spend with loved ones - making each of these trinkets of time an invaluable gift to be treasured. When LeAnn sings, she's a masterful performer - each note is embedded with the melancholy and pathos she feels at letting worldly pursuits get in the way of spending time with family and friends. Yet there's a sense of urgent pleading and hope in there, that new efforts will be appreciated and accepted for the olive branch they are (for what is Christmas if not a time to put old resentments aside and start a new). Gavin is equally as commanding a singer - his voice unspools all the regrets you have within and gives you the power to rectify these with small gestures of kindness, all whilst giving the narrative of the song a vibrant warmth that feels like an aural hug. When their voices coalesce and wrap themselves around each other it's a breathtaking moment that has you raising your hands to testify, filling you with a giddy sense of peace and goodwill that's sure to last way beyond the season. It really is a glorious song that feels like a story the world needs to hear.
A trio of songs embrace the childlike wonder that Christmas should inspire in all us. I Still Believe In Santa Claus is a horn saturated number that sees LeAnn confirm her conviction that the man with the bag is still around - and that actually, letting him just be a fantasy is just a sign of a weary, cynical grown up world. Like all songs on the album, these songs aren't just sung - they are bought from a place that makes each and every one of them an actual performance. Here the music and LeAnn's precision perfect vocal sets the scene of a woman who has had a long day at work, battled the traffic and come home to a slice of 3 day old pizza in the fridge, yet she still is able to see the magic in the world as she conjures up a meal from the remnants of her cupboard (actually that would make a great video). This effervescent sparkle continues in a medley of Holly Jolly Christmas & Frosty The Snowman. They are as playful and frisky as they should be and the songs are linked together by a gleeful little vocal ad-lib that will bring an enormous smile to your face. The two songs are made as fresh as the newly fallen snow and will remind you why they are such enduring classics that are there to be enjoyed year after year. You barely get to take a breath before the breakneck speed of Must Be Santa launches like that fabled sleigh pulled by the mighty Rudolph and his reindeer friends (true story - I actually didn't know reindeer were real until about my late 20s. Don't judge me. I didn't live near a zoo). The rapid patter of the lyrics and their delivery makes this almost a daring challenge to the listener to listen to all the words and sing along without skipping a beat. I haven't managed it yet but any chance to have a cheeky yodel is a-ok with me and I'm going to be a whizz at this by Christmas Day (and expect you all to be too). Joyful AND triumphant ;)
Christmas Time Is Here sees LeAnn take a more pensive view of the season and her emotive cadence firmly rudders the melody of this beautifully floating musical ship. I like that it's just her and (mostly) a piano - it makes the song more intimate, as if you were gathered around a roaring log fire and just listening to LeAnn play piano. This stripped back performance also allows the poetic lyrics to shine forth - something that works equally well on next track, The Heartache Can Wait. Every year people point out that I start the celebration of Christmas far too early - that somehow my listening to Christmas songs/albums in late October through my headphones and curling up watching a festive film that makes my heart swell somehow affects them. This song isn't necessarily about that per se but it certainly verbalises the reasons why I embrace the season so early on. The tribulations and trials of life will always be there and if you can't set them aside at this time of year, then you really are missing out on the true message of love and acceptance at Christmas. It's a radiant performance that really strikes a chord. The song then actually sets the stage for a traditional take onLittle Drummer Boy. Sincerity and earnestness emanate from this interpretation and this - and the subsequent medley of carols - demonstrate LeAnn's versatility across this album, only striving to give the songs the respect and deference they deserve.
The album finishes by extending Christmas into New Years with Auld Lang Syne. An a capella opening to the song reveals the optimistic and hopeful nature of the narrative that has perhaps been taken for granted amidst the drunken revelry in which it's usually sung. Kudos to LeAnn for reminding us all of the true meaning of the music - and for sharing her heartwarming view of Christmas in such a delightful & enchanting album of songs. Essential.
Ghosts of Christmas past:
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