by Hank Shteamer – The New York Times

A holiday album offers musicians a chance to adopt — or reinvent — a classic
format and show fans a different side of themselves. Here’s a sampling of this
year’s releases, from singers exploring the standards and artists rethinking
the meaning of the holidays.

This is Clay Aiken’s second holiday album; the first arrived two decades ago,
the year after he gawkily crooned his way to second place on the second season
of “American Idol.” In the intervening time, he’s been on Broadway, he’s run
(unsuccessfully) for political office and he’s been on “The Masked Singer.”
But he never lost his voice — all these years later, Aiken still sings with a
lovely flutter, and with real punch, too. His first holiday collection, “Merry
Christmas With Love,” was overflowing with earned pomp — a singer who
excelled at targeted bombast given free melodramatic reign. His new one, a
covers collection, is a touch more polished, though he does convey true
mischief on “Magic Moments” and, on “Do You Hear What I Hear,” accesses the
kind of pyrotechnic fifth gear that’s the stuff of “Idol” finales, musical
theater blockbusters and Christmas morning celebrations. JON CARAMANICA

The Carpenters’ 1978 holiday release “Christmas Portrait” is not only one of
the most enduringly enjoyable Yuletide pop albums of its era, it’s also one of
the most ambitious works that Richard Carpenter ever arranged: a grandly
orchestrated, elegantly realized suite that weaves together an extended medley
of Christmas favorites as though they were a single song. That fluidity is
preserved on the new collection, “Christmas Once More,” even though it’s a
compilation that features remixed and remastered material culled from both
“Christmas Portrait” and its slightly inferior though still lovely 1984
sequel, “An Old-Fashioned Christmas.” These 16 tracks represent most of the
highlights from each release, including a festive take on “(There’s No Place
Like) Home for the Holidays” and a rerecording of the Carpenters’ own 1970
holiday hit “Merry Christmas, Darling,” featuring accompaniment from the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra. Streamlining the best material from the two previous
LPs eliminates some of the compositional pomp that occasionally distracted
from the warm, down-to-earth intimacy of Karen Carpenter’s voice, and the
finely executed new mix gives it an added gleam. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Earlier this year the multitalented polymath Jacob
Collier recorded a continuous, 14-minute set of three Christmas classics
live at London’s Abbey Road Studios. He uses his piano, guitar and voice all
in a similarly searching manner, leaping along scales and octaves with a
daredevil’s flair. That approach works best here on piano, particularly during
a spellbinding deconstruction of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” enlivened by its
twinkling cascade of high notes. Collier’s voice is more of an acquired taste
than his piano playing, and despite his impressive range, his showy runs can
overly complicate the emotions meant to be translated through these songs.
Regardless, though, this recording captures a skillfully executed performance
and ends with one of its most enchanting moments, as Collier conducts a choir
— its members just happened to be sitting in the audience — in a beautifully
understated “Silent Night.” ZOLADZ

“A Peace of Us” brings indie-rock introspection to seasonal sentiments. Dean
Wareham, from Galaxie
500 and Luna, and his longtime duo partner and wife, Britta
Phillips, collaborated with Sonic Boom, from Spacemen 3, on mostly lesser-
known Christmas songs, from John Barry and Hal David, David Berman, Randy
Newman, Merle Haggard, Boudleaux Bryant and Willie Nelson, whose “Pretty
Paper” is remade as whispery, pulsing electro-pop. The songs play up the
mundane aspects of the holiday, and the tone is hushed and hazily retro, with
subdued vocals and reverbed guitars alongside the sleigh bells. Even the
Lennon-Ono standard, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” drifts away instead of
building up. JON PARELES

Christmas would seem to present a prime topic for Ben Folds, whose piano
virtuosity, keen eye and skeptical but ultimately kindly spirit can turn
domestic moments into show tunes waiting for a show. “Sleigher” has one
standout: “Christmas Time Rhyme,” a song about the annual family reunion where
“We arrive half alive from the last weird trip around the sun.” It’s a jazzy
waltz that juggles childhood memories and grown-up insights. The rest of the
album — including songs from the Mills Brothers and Mel Torme — struggles to
match it. PARELES

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode
please exit and log
into your Times account, or
subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log
in.

Want all of The Times?
Subscribe.

Access the full story at its original location at The New York Times.