Classic seasonal tunes are the reliable soundtrack of the holidays. These artists are releasing a new crop of their own festive versions, along with presents special guest artists and fresh original songs!
BY LAURA D.C. KOLNOSK
MY GIFT
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
This country superstar is having a better 2020 than most. Underwood dropped her new 11 song collection this fall to get a jump on holiday spirit, then took home the highly coveted Video of The Year and Female Video of the Year honors at the CMT Music Awards for the second consecutive year, making her the most awarded artist in CMT history with 22 career wins. My Gift features traditional tunes like “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” along with new songs she co-wrote. Bonus: John Legend joins her on “Hallelujah.”
A VERY TRAINOR CHRISTMAS
MEGHAN TRAINOR
The Grammy winning pop star has released her first Christmas collection, and it’s a delight, chock full of fun guests. In addition to covering Wham!’s 1986 smash “Last Christmas,” Trainor delivers six originals, including “My Kind of Present,” co-written with her brothers Ryan and Justin. Joining the Christmas party are Earth, Wind, & Fire, Seth MacFarlane, her cousins who sing on “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” and her Dad Gary, belting out “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
ON THIS WINTER’S NIGHT
LADY A
The trio formerly known as Lady Antebellum has issued a deluxe version of their 2012 No. 1 holiday album with four new tracks, including the Beach Boys classic “Little Saint Nick” and an original tune, “Christmas Through Your Eyes.” Group member Hillary Scott released a statement saying that while the band has “always loved the holiday season, it has become even more magical now that we’re parents, so we thought we’d add on a new original song inspired by our kids. I think we could all use a little extra holiday cheer this year!” Hear, hear
CHICAGO CHRISTMAS
CHICAGO
Produced by founding member Lee Loughnane, Chicago Christmas is the band’s 37th album and its fourth holiday collection. Whereas its previous releases focused more on traditional Christmas songs, the new record spotlights holiday music the band wrote especially for the album, including “All Over The World,” “(Because) It’s Christmastime,” and “I’m Your Santa Claus.” The album also features R&B and ballad versions of “Merry Christmas, I Love You,” a song that Loughnane wrote with John Durrill of The Ventures, the best selling instrumental band of all time.
THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM
LESLIE ODOM, JR.
The hits just keep coming for Odom, the multifaceted Tony and Grammy Award winning performer who has made his indelible mark on Broadway, television, fi lm, and music. The Philadelphia native, who played Aaron Burr in the original cast of Hamilton, saw his 2017 album Simply Christmas reach No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard Jazz Charts. This year, The Christmas Album features original tracks like “Snow” as well as covers, including a jazzy rendition of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” along with “Winter Song” featuring Cynthia Erivo. “We sang our hearts out on this album,” said Odom. “We needed to.”
CHRISTMAS: A SEASON OF LOVE
IDINA MENZEL
Not many entertainers can claim roles like Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in the original Broadway cast of Wicked, or the voice of Elsa in the Frozen films, but Tony Award winner Idina Menzel can. Her prolific career traverses stage, fi lm, television, and music. This season, she has released an album of a whopping 18 traditional, international, and new songs featuring guest stars Ariana Grande, Billy Porter, Josh Gad, and her husband, Aaron Lohr. The final song on the disk is, appropriately, “Auld Lang Syne.” Her 2014 holiday album Holiday Wishes debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Holiday Albums Chart and gave Menzel a Top 10 album on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.
