SOUND NT JUDGEME

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

A CHRISTMAS CAROL MAJESTICA

★★★★ ★ WHAT do you get if you cross Iron Maiden, Danny Elfman and Charles Dickens? The most absurdly original album of 2020: Majestica’s A Christmas Carol.

Majestica is a symphonic/power metal band from Boden in Sweden, the brainchild of frontman Tommy Johansson (who is also in heavy metal band Sabaton).

The way that popular classic festive tunes have been woven into an 80s-style prog-rock anthem is epic. A Christmas Has Come starts with such a sense of Disney-like princess castle whimsy, you can almost feel your sleigh dashing through the snow, before everything becomes just that touch more Nightmare Before Christmas.

TOGETHER AT CHRISTMAS

MICHAEL BALL AND ALFIE BOE

★★★ ★★

THE reliable cosiness of Michael Ball and

Alfie Boe singing Christmas classics is probably just what many people need at the end of a year of unexpected challenges and stress. Like a Premier Inn room, listeners get exactly what they expect as the hugely popular pairing pack their fourth duet album with Christmas classics such as O Holy Night and Silent Night as well as pop hits such as Mistletoe And Wine, White Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

New song My Christmas Will Be Better Than Yours is a light-hearted and entertaining duet while a spine-tingling version of I Believe, a song written nearly 70 years ago to give people hope, is perfectly timed. THE PIANOMAN AT CHRISTMAS

JAMIE CULLUM ★★★★ ★ DESPITE creeping into his 40s, Jamie Cullum maintains his reputation as the fresh-faced poster boy of UK jazz. With his first Christmas album, he takes that title a little further, positioning himself as a modern-day festive crooner. Yet Cullum’s tongue is firmly in cheek as he works his way through 10 originals.

Aside from striking a muchneeded mood of merriment, Cullum has also managed to make his songs sound like classics. You may not have heard them before, but they will strike you as pleasingly familiar.