Read my top Christmas albums of 2014 here
Read my top Christmas albums of 2013 here
10 ~ G4, Christmas: Hurrah! G4 have returned and 3 of the original 4 are now accompanied by the rather charming Nick (who makes a fine, resonant vocal addition to the group). Their collection of 11 songs explore all facets of the season and, as always, the quartet are able to imbue the songs with nuanced emotions that make them all the more intimate and personal to the listener. This is quite the accomplishment, considering that the album was recorded in the venues they are touring so has that expansive choral effect that lets our fellas voices soar to maximum effect. It's an album that lets them share their passion for Yuletide in a way that is delightful, reflective and ultimately uplifting.
Standout track: All I Want For Christmas Is You
09 ~ The Bandana Splits, Happy Holidays: When it comes to the vocal trio The Bandana Splits, I am quite the smitten kitten. Even their name conjures up images of simpler times when boys would be in impeccable jeans and a bandana to meet the gal they were courting down at the dairy queen for a milkshake and banana split. And the music paints equally as vivid a picture thanks to their exquisite harmony arrangements and sumptuous instrumental scores. So colour me all sorts of excited to learn that they have a whole album out dedicated to the most wonderful time of the year - Christmas! Titled Happy Holidays, it sees the three ladies take us on a seasonal journey through old favourites and future classics. With timeless textured vocals and exquisite production this is destined to be an album that will be as intrinsically linked to each new holiday year as a Starbucks red cup :)
Standout track: Christmas With You
08 ~ RuPaul, Slay Belles: Ho ho ho, hoes. Nearly twenty years after her first (and still sickening) Christmas album, RuPaul has gagged the holiday market purchasers by sliding a whole new album of festive tunes gently into the iTunes. She's basically done a Beyonce by keeping this so quiet (Kenya Michaels Beyonce obviously) - almost impossible in this era of instant communication, where every overheard snippet of gossip is instantly posted, retweeted and discussed ad infinitum. Also impossible - that twenty year gap between new album Slay Belles and 1997's Ho Ho Ho! I used watched a RuVealed where Dame Ru told us she was twenty three ;) Of course, all that matters here is the music (man), and RuPaul has rounded up some of her best squirrel* friends to bring us a dragtacular cornRUcopia of intoxicating and elevating Christmas sounds. Full of highlights (because there is no #SHADE here)...
Standout track: You're The Star
07 ~ The Ellas, Merry & Bright: The Ellas are a Nashville based big band trio whose effusive take on Christmas music is here to do exactly what their album title promises - make your season Merry & Bright. They've concocted 16 sparkling original compositions that take you on a sleigh ride of the wonderment, awe, reflection, excitement and nostalgia bought about by the most wonderful time of the year. This sleigh ride also takes you back to the winter wonderland of Yuletides past as their jazz infused pop brings to mind the halcyon days of harmonised girl groups such as The Andrews Sisters (if Ella Fitzgerald joined them on stage for a quintet performance with Rosemary Clooney)! Bette Midler would be pleased as punch with this cool yule - and if you've a modicum of passion for all things Noel, you'll fall as fast and hard in love with this selection as I have.
Standout track: Baking Cookies
06 ~ Blake, Classic Christmas: We sadly live in a world that could use a little more tender understanding and a little more kindness, we need the elegant grace of Blake's music to lift us up during the darker times. That's why I'm so delighted their Pledge Music campaign came to fruition and I am now holding in my hands their first holiday album, Classic Christmas. It's a beautiful collection of 13 songs that takes you from reflective to rousing, and back again - leaving you with a heartwarming glow of happiness and satisfaction by the time you've finished listening. It's called a Classic Christmas not only because they've chosen some much beloved songs and not only because the beautiful orchestral scores that accompany them are timeless, but because it will be an indelible classic that soundtracks your holiday season and celebrations for many years to come.
Standout track: The Christmas Song
05 ~ Travis Cloer, Christmas At My Place: I've always had a soft spot for the Jersey Boys performers. Always so dapper and always such excellent vocalists. Their theatrical grounding ensures that they don't just sing the songs, the embody the lyrics and perform the heck out of them! Travis Cloer (a Broadway and later Vegas Jersey Boy) is one such guy. Following on from his excellent Setting The Standards album, I'm delighted that he's decided to embrace the most wonderful time of the year and release an intimate holiday collection, called Christmas At My Place. It accompanies his 3rd annual holiday concert on December 7th in Vegas and for those who can't make it there, then the 10 tracks he sings on the heartwarming invitation that is Christmas At My Place more than suffice. He's a gifted vocalist who imbues his songs with the right amount of charm, sincerity, wit and reflective pondering (as the lyrics demand). In a crowded Yuletide marketplace, his voice and the joyful arrangements make the music vivid and exciting.
Standout track: Christmas Is My Favourite
04 ~ Elf (The UK Cast Recording): Seeing the stage spectacular earlier this month at the Dominion in London has increased my all abiding love for the wonderful songs of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. They are all performed here with radiant orchestration of the music that feels like the band were powered by the sparkle of every triumphant Christmas song ever written and sung. Starring Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin they (and the rest of the electifying cast) bring fully rounded characters to the vibrant score. In fact, they absolutely become the characters they play on the stage and ably convey the emotions that each song requires - the results are utterly intoxicating and leave you with a glorious sense of exhilaration. Much of this comes from the exquisite storytelling of Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin who have really focused on the themes of cynicism, lack of faith, despair, hope and uplifting inspiration. Each character goes through the gamut of these emotions in different ways - some, like Ben's Elf, begin with joyful and contagious optimism before being tested by the cruel harsh realities of the world around them; others like Kimberley's Jovie, start off cynical. All of them find their way to happiness by letting the Christmas spirit into their hearts, ensuring that this really is a soundtrack that leaves you smiling from ear to ear.
Standout track: Sparklejollytwinklejingley
03 ~ Harriet, Winter Stories: Harriet is back with producer Steve Anderson to expand her 2014 EP, Maybe This Christmas, into a full album of Winter Stories. It is a beautiful selection of songs that encapsulate the emotions of the season with wistful melancholy uplifted by the permeating touching themes of hope, optimism and faith in a better year ahead. Harriet doesn't just sing the emotion, she imbues it in the listener and transports them to a place and time in their own memory. Through studied and meticulously place instruments that complement and augment the beauty of Harriet's voice, this is a collection of songs that remind you of Christmas gone by, enrich Christmas present and be the most giving gift for many Christmasses to come. Harriet touched my very soul with this one and it's left a stain that will enlighten and nourish me for many moons yet.
Standout track: Last Christmas (Can't Smile Without You)
02 ~ The Overtones, This Christmas: A Good Ol' Fashioned Christmas by the lads restores your faith in hope, love and humanity. Our boys are radiant in a seasonal setting, sharing their enthusiasm and unwavering belief in better times ahead if we all let a little of that good ol' fashioned christmas spirit into our hearts. It's a cornucopia of Yuletide celebrations, but also takes a few moments of quiet reflection - just as we all do during the busy holiday period. It's the time of year when all emotions are heightened so the good times seem that much more happy while the lonely moments are all the more aching. Lachie, Tim, Mark, Mike and Darren have beautifully captured the true essence of Christmas across this album. It's a gift from start to finish - and one that is going to endure through the years as the album you pull out to remind you of memories gone by and to soundtrack the new memories you've yet to create. Oh, and their festive concert that accompanied this was an absolute triumph :)
Standout track: This Christmas
01 ~ Kylie Minogue, Kylie Christmas: I think this may be my favourite Kylie album (and album campaign) since Light Years. That's not to say I haven't immersed myself into the radiant tunes she's sung inbetween (All The Lovers is one of my top five Kylie songs ever), but something about this entire project just resonates with me. From the early buzz surrounding the sublime duet Only You (and the subsequent, unofficial John Lewis campaign), via the sizzling Dannii duet on Australian X Factor, a S/A/W reunion especially for her and through to her live concert on the 11th December (being broadcast on Sky Arts less than a week later), everything is giving me THE FEELS. It provides a glittering stocking full of songs that will delight, charm and radiate through the holiday celebrations and beyond. New compositions that feel instantly as beloved as the music you've sung along to for many a year. The end result is as shiny as your most treasured bauble on the tree, as sparkling as the star that sits atop it. It's joyful AND triumphant from beginning to end.
Standout track: Christmas Isn't Christmas Til You Get Here
**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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