Photo by Chris Haston
Time for a little catch-up on some holiday-themed records in the works for 2019. And, as is our wont here at Stubby's, we're starting off with the artist you're probably least familiar with.
Brynn Stanley is an up and coming New Jersey born Jazz and Pop singer. She's been described as "the Peggy Lee of her generation" and also drawn comparisons to Norah Jones and Diana Krall. Brynn first emerged in 2013, after heading out to California to better learn her trade.
In 2015, Stanley released her debut album, "Hello California". Largely a Pop exercise, "Hello California" only hinted at Brynn's potential as a Jazz vocalist. Turns out I can be a bit of a snob. Found myself tremendously unmoved by the Popish "You're The One". The smokey soulful Jazz of "Black & White", though, was exactly what the doctor ordered. YMMV, of course.
Performing on both coasts, Brynn has since moved more and more towards the music she's most passionate about...the music of The Great American Songbook. The Brynn Stanley of 2017's "Classic" (which you can check out on Soundcloud) is the Brynn Stanley I'm hoping to encounter when she releases her first Christmas album, currently in the works.
It should be no surprise that Brynn would choose a Christmas album for her next project. You'll find several videos of the young chanteuse celebrating the holidays on YouTube. She'll, again, be working with The Tony Guerrero Quintet (heard on the video above) on the coming holiday set. Working title for the album is "Christmas".
Brynn's only currently available Christmas release is the 2015 pop single "Selfie With Santa".
Brynn Stanley is an up and coming New Jersey born Jazz and Pop singer. She's been described as "the Peggy Lee of her generation" and also drawn comparisons to Norah Jones and Diana Krall. Brynn first emerged in 2013, after heading out to California to better learn her trade.
In 2015, Stanley released her debut album, "Hello California". Largely a Pop exercise, "Hello California" only hinted at Brynn's potential as a Jazz vocalist. Turns out I can be a bit of a snob. Found myself tremendously unmoved by the Popish "You're The One". The smokey soulful Jazz of "Black & White", though, was exactly what the doctor ordered. YMMV, of course.
Performing on both coasts, Brynn has since moved more and more towards the music she's most passionate about...the music of The Great American Songbook. The Brynn Stanley of 2017's "Classic" (which you can check out on Soundcloud) is the Brynn Stanley I'm hoping to encounter when she releases her first Christmas album, currently in the works.
It should be no surprise that Brynn would choose a Christmas album for her next project. You'll find several videos of the young chanteuse celebrating the holidays on YouTube. She'll, again, be working with The Tony Guerrero Quintet (heard on the video above) on the coming holiday set. Working title for the album is "Christmas".
Brynn's only currently available Christmas release is the 2015 pop single "Selfie With Santa".
If it's April, that means that Kate Rusby is back in the studio working on a new Christmas album. The British Folk singer reports that it's difficult to get into a Christmas mindset out of season, but she's quite used to it having already released FOUR Yuletide long-plays.
Kate's first Christmas album, 2008's "Sweet Bells", remains a popular holiday classic. She followed that with "While Mortals Sleep" in 2011, "The Frost Is All Over" in 2015, and "Angels And Men" in 2017.
While we await more seasonal sweetness from this favored Folk songbird, Kate's latest non-Christmas album--"Philosophers, Poets And Kings"--releases in a couple of weeks. The lead single, "Jenny", is a tune in which underdogs of all kinds should find hope and inspiration.
Kate's first Christmas album, 2008's "Sweet Bells", remains a popular holiday classic. She followed that with "While Mortals Sleep" in 2011, "The Frost Is All Over" in 2015, and "Angels And Men" in 2017.
While we await more seasonal sweetness from this favored Folk songbird, Kate's latest non-Christmas album--"Philosophers, Poets And Kings"--releases in a couple of weeks. The lead single, "Jenny", is a tune in which underdogs of all kinds should find hope and inspiration.
Speaking of Folk music, there are few Folk groups who got their start in the early 60s still around today. And The Seekers may be the only one of that select group featuring, essentially, the original line-up. Technically, the Australian group began with Ken Ray holding down the spot now occupied by Judith Durham. But it was only after Durham joined early in 1962 that The Seekers found their sound, scoring international hits with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World Of Our Own" and "Georgy Girl".
The Seekers split up in 1968, reunited in 1975, then went through some personnel changes. The original Seekers reunited again in 1992 and have been together ever since.
Outside of a stray track or two, The Seekers didn't get serious about the holiday season until 2001, when they released "Morningtown Ride To Christmas"(currently OOP). As a solo artist, Judith Durham has released plenty of delicious holiday slices and has frequently appeared on the annual "Spirit of Christmas" collections put out down under by Myer Stores and The Salvation Army.
The Seekers recently signed with Decca, who will release what is anticipated to be their final "new" album, "Farewell", in mid-May (mid-June in America). It's a live set recorded in 2013. But, for us, the big news is that a Christmas album is in the works, expected to feature rare and unreleased material from the group's long career.
The Seekers split up in 1968, reunited in 1975, then went through some personnel changes. The original Seekers reunited again in 1992 and have been together ever since.
Outside of a stray track or two, The Seekers didn't get serious about the holiday season until 2001, when they released "Morningtown Ride To Christmas"(currently OOP). As a solo artist, Judith Durham has released plenty of delicious holiday slices and has frequently appeared on the annual "Spirit of Christmas" collections put out down under by Myer Stores and The Salvation Army.
The Seekers recently signed with Decca, who will release what is anticipated to be their final "new" album, "Farewell", in mid-May (mid-June in America). It's a live set recorded in 2013. But, for us, the big news is that a Christmas album is in the works, expected to feature rare and unreleased material from the group's long career.
If you're visiting Stubby's in April, then you no doubt already know that The Backstreet Boys plan to release their first Christmas album later this year. The 90s Boy Band kicks off their DNA World Tour in Portugal on May 11, wrapping up in New Jersey in September. Along the way, they'll be working on their festive full-length which, we're promised, will include "some classics and some originals".
To date, The Backstreet Boys have released just two Christmas tunes, the 1996 ballad "It's Christmas" and the uptempo "It's Christmas Time Again" from 2012. Try to work on those song titles, boys. It'd be a bit disappointing to see a full album with titles like "It's Christmas Time Again (Again)" and "I Told You It Was Christmas". Just sayin'.
98 Degrees got some mileage out of their recent Christmas record, N Sync saw their holiday album re-released this past year, and The Spice Girls are re-uniting. So the timing is probably spot on for a bit of mistletoe and merriment from BSB. They're back. Alright?
To date, The Backstreet Boys have released just two Christmas tunes, the 1996 ballad "It's Christmas" and the uptempo "It's Christmas Time Again" from 2012. Try to work on those song titles, boys. It'd be a bit disappointing to see a full album with titles like "It's Christmas Time Again (Again)" and "I Told You It Was Christmas". Just sayin'.
98 Degrees got some mileage out of their recent Christmas record, N Sync saw their holiday album re-released this past year, and The Spice Girls are re-uniting. So the timing is probably spot on for a bit of mistletoe and merriment from BSB. They're back. Alright?
This next bit really doesn't belong in this rundown, as it's not technically a Christmas album and it's not upcoming...it's here. Released earlier this month, Nico Cartosio's "Melting" is one of the most affecting records I've heard in a long time. We don't often talk about Classical music, here, but, if you're adventurous, a Classical track in your holiday mix can really set you apart.
"Melting" is largely a very dark work, rising up in hope at the very end. From the outset, "Melting" plunges you into a cold dark place and then drags you further down into hell. Only when you reach the title track are you raised from perdition, your soul set free from the darkness.
Not technically a seasonal album, Cartosio does use winter titles and themes to express the harshness of the cold and dark. "Snow Above The Earth" and "Girl On An Iceberg" are two such examples.
But, really, I just wanted an excuse to play the video for the album's opening track, "Christmas On The Moon", in case you haven't seen it. Because nothing says Christmas like little girls, teddy bears, strip clubs, drugs, and semi-automatic weapons. STRONG PARENTAL ADVISORY: for extreme violence and the appearance of the foulest of 4-letter words (the "C" word) near the beginning (it's in the video, not the song which is instrumental).
"Melting" is largely a very dark work, rising up in hope at the very end. From the outset, "Melting" plunges you into a cold dark place and then drags you further down into hell. Only when you reach the title track are you raised from perdition, your soul set free from the darkness.
Not technically a seasonal album, Cartosio does use winter titles and themes to express the harshness of the cold and dark. "Snow Above The Earth" and "Girl On An Iceberg" are two such examples.
But, really, I just wanted an excuse to play the video for the album's opening track, "Christmas On The Moon", in case you haven't seen it. Because nothing says Christmas like little girls, teddy bears, strip clubs, drugs, and semi-automatic weapons. STRONG PARENTAL ADVISORY: for extreme violence and the appearance of the foulest of 4-letter words (the "C" word) near the beginning (it's in the video, not the song which is instrumental).
Could be Keb Mo for Christmas 2019
Lightning Round.
Further confirmation that you can count on Dolly Parton and The Smashing Pumpkins for Christmas albums this year--separately, of course, not in tandem. Australian-American Christian Pop Rock duo for King and Country is also said to be tossing around the idea of more Christmas music. Their 2013 EP "Into The Silent Night" remains a popular player and the group released "Christmas: Live From The Phoenix" in 2017. It might wait until 2020, but there will definitely be more.
Shania Twain is also hard at work on a holiday set. There's been some talk that the Canadian Country star's record will be all original, but I'm not buying it. If Shania doesn't sing "White Christmas", then what's the point? Just my opinion, of course.
Look for a New Age solo piano Christmas record from Faith Angelina Dixon this coming November. The 13 year old prodigy's latest, "Notes From Zion", debuted at #1 on the One World Music charts in January. A talented and passionate composer, have Faith (see what I did there?) that she will not be offering up some snooze fest of tried and tired standards.
And, while we're awaiting official confirmation, word on the street has it that Keb Mo is currently in the studio laying down a new Christmas album. Being a Blues Hound, that's pretty exciting news to me. That's just a rumor (if a fairly solid one), at the moment. Fingers crossed... Keb Mo's Christmas output, so far, can be found on his 2011 EP, "The Spirit of The Holiday".
Further confirmation that you can count on Dolly Parton and The Smashing Pumpkins for Christmas albums this year--separately, of course, not in tandem. Australian-American Christian Pop Rock duo for King and Country is also said to be tossing around the idea of more Christmas music. Their 2013 EP "Into The Silent Night" remains a popular player and the group released "Christmas: Live From The Phoenix" in 2017. It might wait until 2020, but there will definitely be more.
Shania Twain is also hard at work on a holiday set. There's been some talk that the Canadian Country star's record will be all original, but I'm not buying it. If Shania doesn't sing "White Christmas", then what's the point? Just my opinion, of course.
Look for a New Age solo piano Christmas record from Faith Angelina Dixon this coming November. The 13 year old prodigy's latest, "Notes From Zion", debuted at #1 on the One World Music charts in January. A talented and passionate composer, have Faith (see what I did there?) that she will not be offering up some snooze fest of tried and tired standards.
And, while we're awaiting official confirmation, word on the street has it that Keb Mo is currently in the studio laying down a new Christmas album. Being a Blues Hound, that's pretty exciting news to me. That's just a rumor (if a fairly solid one), at the moment. Fingers crossed... Keb Mo's Christmas output, so far, can be found on his 2011 EP, "The Spirit of The Holiday".
And then there's Liz...
Finally, today, Robbie Williams got his start with the British Pop band Take That in the 90s but became a bankable artist when he went solo. 7 number one singles and 10 number one albums later, Williams is among the best selling and richest solo acts in British history. Oddly, he's barely registered on this side of the Atlantic, charting only two singles on the Top 100, "Angels" and "Millennium", with the former charting the highest at just #53. I imagine that's got to annoy the heck out of him, in spite of his success across the pond.
Williams has always seemed kinda Christmas adjacent (for example, he sang on the Band Aid 20 version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the video for his retro duet with Nicole Kidman has a Christmas theme). But his only "official" holiday release to date has been "Walk This Sleigh", the festive flip to "Angels" in 1997. "Walk This Sleigh" has frequently been described as one of the worst Christmas songs of all time, but I've always rather liked it. Why? Because it's different, and you know how much I love different.
Robbie is currently working on a full Christmas album which I expect we'll see at the end of this year. He's got a musical fetish for Rat Pack styled Jazz Pop, so I'd expect to hear some of that on the completed project. But Robbie knows how to write an infectious Pop song as well as anyone, so I'd think we'll also get a lot of that.
And.......here's a possible preview to close us out. Enjoy.
Williams has always seemed kinda Christmas adjacent (for example, he sang on the Band Aid 20 version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the video for his retro duet with Nicole Kidman has a Christmas theme). But his only "official" holiday release to date has been "Walk This Sleigh", the festive flip to "Angels" in 1997. "Walk This Sleigh" has frequently been described as one of the worst Christmas songs of all time, but I've always rather liked it. Why? Because it's different, and you know how much I love different.
Robbie is currently working on a full Christmas album which I expect we'll see at the end of this year. He's got a musical fetish for Rat Pack styled Jazz Pop, so I'd expect to hear some of that on the completed project. But Robbie knows how to write an infectious Pop song as well as anyone, so I'd think we'll also get a lot of that.
And.......here's a possible preview to close us out. Enjoy.
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