Wall Street Journal - November 25-26, 2006
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Why singers of all genres are jumping into the Christmas-music game
By Jamin Warren and John Jurgensen
HOW DOES a pop artist ensure that his or her new album will live on for years? Give it a holiday theme. Years-old Christmas albums from artists such as 2003’s “American Idol” star Clay Aiken and pop-opera group Il Divo have made a comeback on Billboard’s “Top Holiday Albums” chart this year, alongside classics from Burl Ives and Elvis Presley. As more and more radio stations switch to an all-Christmas music format at holiday time, older catalog songs are kept in rotation, which means a holiday album can be a good long-term bet for an artist. Below, how three different types of artists — a folk-pop singer in between original albums, an iconic mainstream vocalist and an offbeat singer-songwriter — approached the holiday CD.
Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas
This five-volume holiday collection features a half-decade of material from the Detroit singer-songwriter, combining classics like “The Little Drummer Boy” and originals like “Get Behind Me, Santa!” Mr. Stevens is known for ambitious themed projects such as recent albums “Michigan” and “Illinois,” two entries in what he’s said may be a 50-state collection.