Christmastime is here with new albums

Now that a quiet, quarantined observance of All Saints Day has passed, it can be said that Christmastime is upon us. It will be different from others we have known but there is really no stopping it. So, we might as well ride along with the times and have a dose of uplifting, heartwarming Christmas music to tide us over until the pandemic is over.

Here are some excellent choices that might help.

A Very Trainor Christmas by Meghan Trainor. The young, effervescent pop style of Grammy winner Meghan is ideal for Holiday music. Proof came with the recent release of the singles, My Kind of Present, a peppy new original that she co-wrote with her brothers, Justin and Ryan, and her sparkling cover of the Wham!’s enduring favorite, Last Christmas.

Come late October, the girl behind the Diamond seller, All About That Bass and the recent No Excuses, next dropped the complete collection, A Very Trainor Christmas, which it turns out is a family gathering with some famous friends. There are more originals like Christmas Party and Christmas Got Me Blue, plus the standards, White Christmas with Seth McFarlane, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer with her cousins, Jayden, Jenna Marcus and Toney, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with her dad, Gary Trainor, plus a funky Holiday with the Earth, Wind & Fire.

My Gift by Carrie Underwood. Christmas music, country style has a warm, homey, inspirational appeal. For examples, check out Cheers, It’s Christmas by Blake Shelton and My Kind of Christmas by Reba McEntire. My Gift, the latest by Carrie, has the same flavor. The country music superstar was so into welcoming the Season of Joy in this time of the coronavirus that she released her first Christmas Album in September. Is that too early for you? No matter, My Gift is such a lovely package and I am glad we did not have to wait long for it.

Underwood has this innate flair for spiritual messages in her songs. Remember, Jesus Take the Wheel? So, Christmas songs are a natural fit for her. The most successful winner of the American Idol talent search sings lovely covers of traditional carols like O Holy Night, Away in the Manger and Silent Night, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in Joyful, Joyful, the standard Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and originals like Let There Be Peace and Sweet Baby Jesus.

Not really a Christmas tune but so moving that it turned out to be the gem of the lot is the Leonard Cohen masterpiece, Hallelujah! featuring John Legend.

Christmas: A Season of Love by Idina Menzel. Can there be anything more Christmasy than the voice of Princess Elsa from the Frozen kingdom singing about Christmas? Now, everybody knows that Menzel has really gorgeous pipes. She is not only known for Let It Go. She is a Tony winner for Wicked where she soared with Defying Gravity as Ephada. So beautiful singing of a variety of Holiday songs is what the album is about.

As befits her Broadway icon and Disney princess status, this is a powerhouse production with a cast and song line-up to match. Listen to fabulous duets, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm with Billy Porter of Kinky Boots and Pose, We Wish You the Merriest, with Josh Gad, her Olaf in Frozen, I’ll Be Home for Christmas with her husband, Aaron Lohr and with Ariana Grande, in A Hand for Mrs. Claus, of a new song by the Academy Award-winning songwriters of Frozen, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

There are soundtrack tunes in We Need a Little Christmas from Mame, Season of Love from Rent, Christmastime is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas; Menzel’s own composition about Inclusion, At This Table and Jewish holiday songs, Walker’s 3rd Hanukkah and Ocho Kandelikas; medleys of O Holy Night and Ave Maria, of Winter Wonderland and Christmas Baby, Please Come Home; plus Sleigh Ride, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas, Caroling Caroling and because the New Year will also be here soon, Auld Lang Syne.