Best New Christmas Albums of 2018
I know you’ve all been waiting for it, so here it is. My picks for the best new Christmas albums of 2018. (Yes, I know most of you just groaned, but I also know about 5 of you just said “YES!!”) I feel like there was a lot more to choose from last year. But as slim as the options were this year, I did find some worth checking out.
#5: Eric Clapton – Happy Xmas
If you’re a fan of Eric Clapton and you’re a fan of Christmas songs, then you’ll probably love this album. However, if you’re looking for traditional Christmas songs, this isn’t it. And if you don’t like Clapton, don’t even bother with this one. He has just a couple of traditional Christmas songs on here, but most of the album is original stuff. And even the traditional songs are anything but traditional the way he does them. The only song I’m confused about on here is Jingle Bells. Give it a listen if you dare..but I have to assume Clapton either had no idea someone put that horrid arrangement on his album, or he was really really high. It’s just terrible
Favorite Tracks
White Christmas: You know the song, but here it is in blues form. It works.
Silent Night: Part of me really wanted to hate this…because it’s REGGAE. No, just no. You will NOT put Silent Night as a damn reggae…but damn if I didn’t actually sort of dig it.
#4 John Legend – A Legendary Christmas
I like John Legend, so I was excited when I saw he was releasing a Christmas album. There are some decent songs on it, but I quickly realized that I only like John Legend for maybe 2 songs, then his voice sort of wears on me. I was also hoping for more simple songs from him with just a piano and vocals. But, there are still some good tracks worth checking out. The first track features Stevie Wonder, so c’mon, that gives some cred right there.
Favorite Tracks
What Christmas Means to Me: This is a fun start to the album and with a little help from a Stevie Wonder harmonica solo, it sets the mood for this album well.
Merry Christmas Baby: This one might be a little on the nose, but it’s a bluesy Christmas song sung by a soul singer. There’s nothing wrong with that.
#3 Pentatonix – Christmas Is Here!
I feel like Pentatonix are going to be put in the same category as Michael Buble and Josh Groban. They really can’t make a shitty Christmas album. If tight harmonies and beat-boxing is your thing, then you’ll love this album just as much as their 2017 album. There’s really not a bad song on here, and their pairing with Kelly Clarkson is perfect.
Favorite Tracks
Grown Up Christmas List (Featuring Kelly Clarkson) : This is one of the more decent newer Christmas songs to emerge in the last few years, and this arrangement is far better than the original. Kelly Clarkson singing lead over the Pentatonix gang doing their thing in the background makes for a pretty stellar song.
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: A lively number that really showcases what these guys do best. Their ability to do all percussion and chord changes vocally, while weaving their lead vocals around a perfect blend of a cappella awesomeness. But again, ONLY if that’s your thing.
#2 Ingrid Michaelson – Songs of the Season
This album almost took the #1 spot, which surprised me. I really couldn’t tell you a single song that Ingrid Michaelson sings. I know her name, and I’m sure I’d recognize many songs of hers from the radio, but she’s not an artist I know much about at all. Because of that I wasn’t really expecting to like this album much, and planned to sort of skim through it. But from the very first song to the very last song I was in it and didn’t hit next once. This album is a bit more traditional than most new Christmas albums from a current artist, but with just the right amount of modern flair to it. It has all the charm of the classic albums we grew up listening to, as well as a fantastic duet with Leslie Odom Jr. I really liked this album and I’d be surprised to hear anyone who’s a fan of Christmas music to not agree.
Favorite Tracks
All I Want for Christmas is You (duet with Leslie Odom Jr.) : Some people love this classic Mariah Carrey Christmas song. I’m not one of these people, but damn if this isn’t an absolutely gorgeous arrangement of this song. In fact, even though this album takes my #2 spot, this song alone is my #1 pick for best Christmas song of 2018. It’s that good.
Mele Kalikimaka: If hearing this song doesn’t remind you of the scene in Christmas Vacation where Clark is looking out his window dreaming about his pool..then you need to re-watch that movie. This arrangement is a lot of fun!
#1 Jessie J – This Christmas Day
First let me back up and tell you the first time I heard Jessie J. It was quite a few years ago and the Grammy’s had a live band playing in the theatre that would play for the audience while they took commercial breaks. Every so often the people at home would get to hear the ending of a song, or maybe the middle of a song. I didn’t care what was happening on the Grammy stage that night, but I was floored at how great the house band was. The singer was crazy good and she was singing covers of all the hit songs from that year. Imagine getting the gig of singing covers of Grammy nominated musicians…in FRONT of those Grammy nominated musicians. No thanks. That girl was Jessie J, and I believe she was a relatively unknown new comer at that point.
Since then she’s released a few pop albums and they’re…decent. There’s some good songs, one in particular called I Miss Her, that literally made me cry the first time I heard it. But most of her stuff is just too pop-y for me, even though I LOVE her voice.
This Christmas album of hers is fantastic. A lot like my #2 pick above, this album is the perfect mix of traditional Christmas sentimentality, mixed with some modern flair…only Jessie J adds some SOUL to that flair. The first few tracks are straight out of an Ella Fitzgerald jazz club with a great big band behind her. She brings in a little R&B later on and then slows it down with a couple of nice ballads, and even a duet with Boyz II Men. I really loved everything about this album.
Favorite Tracks
This Christmas Day: This is an original Christmas song, and it’ll hit you right in the feels if you’ve ever lost someone you miss around the holidays. I feel like this song might even be what came after her song I Miss Her that I mentioned above. Give both a listen, and try not to cry.
Silent Night: Don’t let my 2 picks here of very soft sentimental songs fool you. There’s plenty of great groovy booty shaking music on this album, too, and it’s all fantastic. But this is Silent Night, and she does it beautifully.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you only listen to 2 new Christmas albums this year, make it Ingrid Michaelson and Jessie J. And if you’re only going to listen to one, here’s how you decide. If you typically like more folky singers, go with Ingrid. If you like a little more soul to your singers, go with Jessie J. But really, you can’t go wrong with either album. Both of these are added to my ever expanding Xmas Playlist on Spotify and will get regular play for SURE.
