MUSIC
nald co-wrote — such as “Peace” (written with Beth Nielsen Chapman), “To Make a Miracle” and “Christmas on the Bayou” — add a variety of styles and tones to the festive spirit and help make the compilation a worthy option.
Jessie J, “This Christmas Day” (Lava/ Republic)
English pop star Jessie J of “Bang Bang” fame shows off her jazzy side and a very serious ability to tackle standards on her first holiday album, “This Christmas Day.” It’s utterly charming — and utterly unmemorable.
The talented songwriter and singer’s voice flutters beautifully over classics like “Let It Snow,” “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” without doing anything different or interesting to them. It’s overly respectful, as zesty as eggnog.
These songs have been done to death and everyone has their favourite versions. While Jessie J proves yet again she’s an under-appreciated artist, she’s hardly dislodged, say, Brenda Lee from owning “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Two duets — “Winter Wonderland” with Boyz II Men and “The Christmas Song” featuring Babyface — are highlights, as is her nicely fresh take on “Jingle Bells,” which she nicely owns. But let’s face it: This is mostly background music while we wait for Elvis or Sinatra or Mariah to show up.
The Mavericks, “Hey! Merry Christmas!” (Mono Mundo)
If you could only choose one new album to mingle in with the classics at your holiday party, you could do a lot worse than the Mavericks’ “Hey! Merry Christmas!” It’s the sound of a great band with a unique style leaning into the holiday season with gusto.
The Mavericks have evolved in all the right ways over the years — adventurous, ambitious and not bound by formulaic thinking. Led by Raul Malo’s dynamic vocals, they pour folk, swing, jazz, rockabilly and Latin sounds into one big pot of gumbo. And it turns out their holiday stew has some kick.
This collection includes eight original compositions and two familiar tunes, both far enough from heavy rotation to fit in well here: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “Happy Holiday.”
And while some of the new songs sound derivative — you’ll hear echoes of Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” on “Santa Does,” for example — the common
element is fun.
No gimmicks or fakery here — just straight-ahead party songs made-to-order for the party season.
Engelbert Humperdinck, “Warmest Christmas Wishes” (OK! Good Records)
Engelbert Humperdinck seems like a natural choice for frequent collections of Christmas songs, but “Warmest Christmas Wishes” is his first in nearly four decades.
Last year’s “The Man I Want to Be” showed the now 82-year-old singing with gusto and updating his repertoire with songs from Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. Here he doesn’t come so near to the present, covering Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas” and Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Christmas Song (I’m Not Dreaming of a White Christmas)” and the arrangements stay close to the “holidays with strings” sort. One exception is an unexpected instrumental version of “White Christmas,” which sways gently in Django ReinhardtStephane Grappelli mode.
Also on board are Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” as well as “O Tannenbaum,” in a bilingual German-English version.
The German influence continues with “Leise rieselt der Schnee,” which also gets a separate, English-language adaptation — “Silently Falls the Snow.” The album also includes Austrian evergreen “Still, Still, Still” (in English only) and some original compositions like “A Christmas for the Family.”
Humperdinck’s album radiates calm, so it’s probably best played when soothing sounds are most appreciated, not, for example, when the children are tearing the wrapping paper off their gifts. On second thought, maybe that’s exactly when it could be most effective.