There’s something for fans of virtually every musical genre in 2011’s new holiday music releases.
Carole King – “A Holiday Carole”
Exactly 40 years since her first album in 1971, singer-songwriter Carole King is releasing her first album of holiday music in 2011. Ironically, the artist so well known for the hundreds of songs she has written didn’t write any of the three original songs on “A Holiday Carole.” They were co-written by her daughter, Louise Goffin (who produced the album) and songwriters Jody Marr, George Noriega and Guy Chambers.
Justin Bieber – “Under the Mistletoe”
At 17, Justin Bieber is the youngest major artist on the list of top new holiday releases. It has already proven to be a good fit for him. When it was released, it took the single, “Mistletoe” less than a day to make it to #1 on the iTunes chart.
Paul Anka – “Songs of December”
Paul Anka is celebrating his fifth decade of making music with a new Christmas album. “Songs of December” features 11 traditional carols with a full orchestra backing. Still active at age 70, Anka will be touring throughout November and December 2011.
Michael Bublé – “Christmas”
Michael Bublé’s “Christmas” is his first holiday music album (he released a five track EP, “Let it Snow” in 2003.) Shania Twain, Thalia and The Puppini Sisters guest on three of the 15 tracks of both traditional and new Christmas songs.
Chicago – “Chicago XXXIII – O Christmas Three”
Chicago also invited a few guests to the party for their newest holiday music album. The multi-genre collaborators include Dolly Parton, BeBe Winans, Steve Cropper, and America. The title is a reference to this being the band’s third Christmas album of their 42 year recording career.
tobyMac – “Christmas in Diverse City”
Several genres are represented on rapper tobyMac’s new holiday release, including rock, pop, hip-hop and R&B. The former DC Talk singer-songwriter employs guests artists on all but two of the album’s 13 tracks of old and new Christmas songs.
Vanessa Peters – “The Christmas We Hoped For”
Indie rocker Vanessa Peters comes off of a three year hiatus with an album of traditional standards and 21st century songs (the lead track is a cover of The Weepies’ 2004 song “All That I Want”) with an Americana flavor.
She & Him – “A Very She & Him Christmas”
Pop duo She & Him (she: Zooey Deschanel, him: M. Ward) are offering up a dozen classic carols, with a portion of the proceeds going to the 826 National organization, which offers writing resources to students.
Jersey Boys – “Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boy Christmas”
The cast of the long-running Broadway show, “Jersey Boys” offers 17 renditions influenced not only by The Four Seasons (on whom the play is based) but a variety of other ’50s and ’60s pop artists.
Joey + Rory – “A Farmhouse Christmas”
The title of country duo Joey + Rory’s holiday release is quite fitting, considering that they live in a 19th century farmhouse themselves. The album’s hook is that 10 of the 12 tracks are either new songs, or songs that haven’t been previously released as Christmas songs. In the advance publicity for the album, Rory explains, “We made this record with hopes of trying to bring the listener into our home and share a small piece of our world at Christmas time with them.”