Released a couple of months ago, Mariah Carey returns with her second holiday record "Merry Christmas II You".
The album is a collection of mostly old traditionals mixed with some newly written material plus more uptempo takes on classic holiday songs. The opening track (after the "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Instrumental Introduction"), and the lead single from the album "Oh Santa!" is an R&B holiday song reminiscent of the classic Christmas songs and reflective of previous R&B greats from the forties and fifties. Mariah brings her signature vocals to all the Christmas traditional songs such as "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "The First Noel" and "O Come All Ye Faithful". She adds her own little twists to the arrangements by pairing them with another traditional Christmas song to create a medley. She does this with such tracks as "O Little Town of Bethlehem/ Little Drummer Boy" and "The First Noel/ Born Is the King". Her Mother also makes a cameo singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" on the medley "O Come All Ye Faithful/ Hallelujah Chorus". The song "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)/ Housetop Celebration" is a more upbeat song reflective of the type of music Mariah is known for today.
A new recording of one of my favourite Holiday songs, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is included. Although slated as "Extra Festive", it doesn't really differ from the original arrangement. The biggest change is the instrumental introduction to the song.
Also included is a new pop/dance rendition of "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)" which I personally love. It differs from the rest of the album as rather than having a "Christmas" sound to it it's more about expressing the celebration of the season.
Filled with traditional Christmas classics, new songs and a couple R&B influenced tracks, Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas II You" is a fantastic soundtrack to the holiday season. Available now from Island Records and Universal Music Australia.
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