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Another year, another deluxe edition of this Christmas album. This time around it is to coincide with the Hallmark Channel using the OneRepublic written ditty, “Here This Christmas,” as the official theme of their onslaught of cliché holiday-themed romances. Throw in one additional bonus track, “Sleigh Ride” which is played traditionally and not in the more raucous Ronettes mode, and the whole thing now runs nearly an hour and nineteen songs.
If this sounds like I am complaining about the present state of her career as being merely seasonal and seemingly incapable of moving beyond a now three-year-old album, then maybe just a tiny bit. I always welcome new music from her, and I do tend to blast this album multiple times a year when the season strikes, but I’m ready for something else. Anything else, really.
Having said all that, this 2020 edition doesn’t change much from the previous 2018 edition. Sure, there’s two new songs, but that’s about it. The only noticeable change is in the production of these new songs. Gone is the lush, full sound of the original as producer Busbee sadly died last year. Add in a global pandemic, and I somehow doubt it would be easy to coordinate the recording of numerous live instruments and orchestrations. The two new songs sound too synthetic at times but generally work within the structure of the original album’s scope and vibe.
You Make It Feel Like Christmas remains an affectionately retro confection, one that is more than capable of imbuing the season with the appropriate atmosphere. I’ll just be happy when we can all take a break from the retread of this album’s slow drip of new songs and move onto a new phase. Hey, are the boys in your old band doing anything right about now? It’s not like this year was a twenty-fifth anniversary of a certain album or anything.
Download: “Under the Christmas Lights,” “My Gift Is You,” “Here This Christmas”
