The fresh seasonal releases of Kelly Clarkson, Bryson Tiller, Nat King Cole and Pistol Annies span genres and generations.
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Authors: Jon Caramanica, Jon Pareles and Giovanni Russonello
Holiday music is big business: look at the Billboard charts every December, the top 10 are filled with Christmas (and more religiously neutral) albums that are both new and nostalgic. Our pop and jazz critics investigated the latest version and selected 13 songs worthy of seasonal release.
The standards of Kelly Clarkson's second Christmas album were almost unfair to other interpreters-she was such a quick singer. (Especially "Last Christmas", this is rendered as a vivid roller coaster.) However, it is Clarkson's original work-she is a singer that most unnamed Mariah Carey would not bother to put in them The Shen Yun singing released during the holidays-this makes "When Christmas Comes..." truly stand out. Ariana Grande's "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" is pure Motown, and Chris Stapleton's "Glow" is worth singing between two powerful singers. It is shocking how unhappy some of these songs are: "Merry Christmas (to people I have known)" is unforgettable; "Christmas is not cancelled (only you)" is a happy tsk-tsk; and "Merry Christmas Baby", about getting rid of a dull partner, very cold: "Merry Christmas to you/hope it's not as cold as you." Jon Karamanika
Nat King Cole is not the only genius who scraped his voice from the original recording and reinstalled it. But why does the producer seem to be particularly qualified to pick Cole's voice and move it as he pleases? After all, there is almost nothing wrong with the original recording. But a few Christmases ago, Cole and Gregory Porter re-interpreted his classic interpretation of "Ipanema's Girl" together. This year, this is an album that pastes Cole's old vocal repertoire on a gorgeous new orchestra. Some repertoires also include duets made with live singers: full frontal synth and string attacks on "Deck the Halls" and "Joy to the World", combined and sung "with" Johnny Mathis; with Glory A gentler reading of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" co-authored by Gloria Estefan; and "Christmas Song (Roasting Chestnuts on an Open Flame)", The Legend of John . Giovanni Rossoneiro
This is Kat Edmonson’s first Christmas-themed album-an exquisite young nostalgic, also confused by Blossom Dearie and Norah Jones-but we don't need the title of LP to tell us that this won't be her last Albums. The shoes fit well. On Sunday, she will produce the Christmas version of "The Kat Edmonson Show", which is her live series; this will be the first episode of her complete band, which will play the tunes from the album at a studio in New York . Rossoneiro
As the leader of Gaslight Anthem, Brian Fallon is often a completely inclined Springsteen style rock singer. But the "Night God" is restrained and pious. Carefully arranged and recorded at his home, mostly folk songs and original soundtracks, the song list tends to be hymns and more devout carols. Fallon dug up songs that are not often heard, such as "Oh Holy Night"-"He will break the chains because the slave is our brother/In his name, all oppression will stop"-and in the song message Be humble before. Jon Pares
As a four-time platinum amulet of American Christmas culture, Vince Guaraldi's piano trio soundtrack "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (A Charlie Brown Christmas) can be said to be more than its accompanying animated TV special Iconic. Now that album-with its cold and rocking West Coast jazz interpretation of "O Tannenbaum" and other seasonal songs, plus Guarardi's classic "Linus and Lucy"-is being re-released on vinyl records and cassettes Limited edition tapes; LP and tapes are both shiny silver. The LP version includes an embossed foil jacket and a vinyl record embossed with Charles M. Schulz illustrations. Rossoneiro
A very tasteful standard album by jazz singer José James. "Give yourself a happy little Christmas" is smooth and stable. "Christmas Song" is sleek and steady. "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"-Also smooth and steady! James has such an authoritative resonance voice, even his two original works sound decades old. Karamanica
As a singer and pianist, Norah Jones is cunningly low-key in "I Dream of Christmas". This album is interspersed with her own new songs, including tunes such as "Blue Christmas", "Christmas Is Here" and "Run Run Rudolph", which she borrowed from Chuck Berry Yes, it became a tight rumba dance. However, behind the calmness of her own new songs (such as "There is only one Christmas a year" and the gospel "You are not alone"), there is a trace of true loneliness and longing hidden, suggesting the cost of pandemic isolation. Parreles
Steve Perry, the previous journey, must be proud of his high pitch. In "The Season", he lowered his familiar repertoire-"Winter Wonderland" and "Auld Lang Syne"-to a slower tempo, until his tenor was close to falsetto. The arrangement adopts the retro style of the 1950s and a jazz piano with a string background. But Perry's voice is no longer as smooth as the "don't stop believing" era. It often appears grainy, shaky patches, so that the song composed for comfort becomes tense and full of tension: will he pass the shot? Parreles
Pistol Annie-Songwriting and Vocal Harmony Alliance of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angareina Presley-composed 10 new songs for "Hell of a Holiday", integrated into the West Retro styles such as swing, girl group rock and Laurel Canyon pop ballads. Their scenes include festive cheering, faith, and flirting ("Come on Christmas", admitting "Santa fascination"). But they also recognize that holidays can be a kind of stress. Among the few covers, there is Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December", a stoic song about a laid-off worker in 1973, and Pistol Annies also wrote about seasonal depression ("Make You Blue" ) Songs of family disputes. On the southern rocks of "Harran County Coal," a wife struggled to spend Christmas with her drunk husband and the "47-dollar gold bank." Parreles
Australian guitarist Joe Robinson showed humble craftsmanship on "Christmas au Chalet" (Christmas au Chalet), playing a variety of familiar Christmas songs, including "Silent Night", "Let It Snow" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". His version is a real-time acoustic guitar solo, full of so many flexible counterpoints, it is sometimes hard to believe that he is playing alone. Parreles
As She & Him, actress and singer Zooey Deschanel (Zooey Deschanel) and sepia singer-songwriter M. Ward have always wanted to sound like they came to you from another era. Now they can: She & Him’s holiday album is 10 years old, which seems to be enough for Merge Records to re-release "A Very She & Him Christmas" in a new retro-themed packaging. The 10th Anniversary Vinyl Record includes an additional 7-inch single, including new covers for Wham!’s "This Christmas" and Madonna's "Holiday". "Holiday" is a highlight: Deschanel and Ward added some synthesizers to speed up the rhythm and slightly relax the carefully cultivated aesthetics. Rossoneiro
Nashville songwriter Amanda Shires rewritten "Silent Night" in her album "For Christmas" as a frustrating minor elegy-"Nothing's Calm / Nothing Is Right", which includes nine other songs of her own. They often revolve around holiday romance, whether it goes well ("blame it to mistletoe") or not ("my home"). Shires has a hoarse, trembling voice, and has a piano-centered band. Her work is mainly for drama. But she also allows some comedies, as in her cheerful shuffle, "Go Christmas": The upper limit of a wish list is "I hope you go to Christmas." Parreles
"Checked the fireplace, your stockings are gone," R&B star Bryson Tiller sang in "Be Mine This Christmas", a sleepy, clenched, slightly sensual hymn full of Sorry. In "Different Christmas", Thiele’s first holiday release, his vocals were processed in large quantities, and the production was modern and diverse, all of which served a series of festive atmospheres: in the "Winter Wonderland" with his daughter The gentle duet of "Ain't a Lonely Christmas Song"; the lively Atlanta bass energy in "Ain't a Lonely Christmas Song"; in "Lonely Christmas", about the holiday after the breakup, his guest Justin Bieber moodily recalls "How we used to be I bought the lamp from Wal-Mart". Karamanica
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