Carpenters, Christmas Once More (A&M/Ume) ****
Wrapping: A nice new sleeve packages a compilation of much-loved classics. Search for the Gold Vinyl limited edition pressing.
Gifts inside: Carpenters fans already will be familiar with their Christmas Portrait album from 1978 and Karen’s posthumous collection, An Old Fashioned Christmas, from 1984. The best of these songs and the inclusion of Merry Christmas Darling, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, are given a remix from Richard Carpenter.
Style: Karen and Richard Carpenter’s music is a timeless, classy staple.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Christmas with the Carpenters is as traditional and as heart-warming as watching It’s A Wonderful Life.
Scrooge moan: Isn’t it tragic that we lost Karen so early.
White Christmas? Oh, there are lots of wintry references: Sleigh Ride, The First Snowfall and Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Blue Christmas? Of course there are sad songs on here! Far too many to list.
Stocking or shocking? Every home should have a Christmas Carpenters album. It’s the law!
Reviewed by Ian Sime
Jennifer Hudson, The Gift Of Love (Interscope) *****
Wrapping: Lucky ones will opt for the red vinyl version of Ms Hudson’s fourth studio LP. However, the bland, uninspiring artwork does not do justice to a superlative collection of Old School Gospel.
Gifts inside: Four brand-new songs and ten standard covers or traditional carols all given JHUD’s unique Gospel twist.
Style: The roots of this deep Gospel collection come from the Church. Slight deviations into Big Band (Winter Wonderland) and jazz (Almost Christmas, featuring The Common) showcase a most spiritual Yuletide collection.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Although Jennifer Hudson has proved to be an incredibly versatile vocal talen,t adept at covering many a genre, this album visits the foundations of her talent. Few can carry off Go Tell It On The Mountain like this diva.
Scrooge moan: The download version includes tracks missing from the physical collection.
White Christmas? Winter Wonderland and Jingle Bells receive a make-over. However, mostly this collection is deeply Spiritual, without a flake of snow or glitter.
Blue Christmas? There is a time and a place for The Gift Of Love, which features Carol Of The Bells, O Holy Night, Christmas Song and a Deep Southern take on Auld Lang Syne. Although a deeper shade of blue than Wham or Shakin’ Stevens, this is an album to savour in many a future Christmas.
Stocking or shocking? This is my Christmas album of choice in 2025. However, not everyone likes their Christmas fare so raw or unsweetened. Choose the recipient wisely.
Reviewed by Ian Sime
Ben Folds, Sleigher (New West Records) ****
Wrapping: Bespectacled Ben walking his dog through a moon-lit, snow-dusted cityscape at midnight on Christmas Eve. Same skyline and houses, but no sign of Ben, as the sun rises on Christmas Day morning on the back sleeve. Inside, all the credits, including Amanda Stephan for “Laughing” on track #8. No lyrics or writer’s notes, however.
Gifts inside: Seven originals, including a brace of instrumentals, by North Carolina-born, piano-playing, indie pop songwriter Ben Folds, 58, on his first holiday album and sixth studio set, complemented by titivated covers of Robert Wells and Mel Tormé’s 1945 chestnut The Christmas Song (slow and whisky warm), Burt Bacharach’s chocolate-rich 1962 easy-listener The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle and jazz pianist Seger Ellis’s 1955 novelty number You Don’t Have To Be A Santa Claus, the playful album closer.
Style: Imagine the vintage crooning Christmas chops of Andy Williams crossed with Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 masterpiece A Charlie Brown Christmas, replete with jingling bells, twinkling piano, swelling strings and Bacharach flourishes. Romantic too on the duet We Could Have This, sung with Christmas Eve anticipation with co-writer Lindsey Kraft.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Christmas Time Rhyme could have been penned by The Beach Boys, harmonies et al.
Scrooge moan: At 2.36am, on Sunday, May 26 2024, Folds decided he needed one more song to complete the album, calling on ChatGPT to write Christmas lyrics in “the parlance of today”. The robotic nonsense of Xmas Aye Aye suggests he should have gone to bed instead.
White Christmas? No sign of that weather forecast of a festive favourite, but instant classic Sleepwalking Through Christmas demands the Michael Bublé cover treatment.
Blue Christmas? Folds’ opening instrumental, Little Drummer Bolero, could not be bluer. Likewise the sanguine reflections of Maurice And Me, songwriting on a par with Neil Sedaka or Randy Newman, on an album that adroitly balances festive cheer and cheese with the season’s melancholia as Folds charts the passing years, the hopes and fears, the mounting memories and losses, of Christmas past, present and AI future.
Stocking or shocking? Shocking album title but Ben Folds stocks Sleigher with four new Christmas corkers that suggest he is a gift to festive songwriting.
Reviewed by Charles Hutchinson