When Christmas Comes Around...
When Christmas Comes Around... is the ninth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on October 15, 2021, through Atlantic Records. Produced by Jesse Shatkin, Jason Halbert, Joseph Trapanese and Aben Eubanks, it is her second Christmas album after "Wrapped in Red" (2013) and a follow-up to her eighth studio album "Meaning of Life" (2017). Featuring cover versions of Christmas songs, as well as original co-penned tracks and duets with Chris Stapleton, Ariana Grande and Brett Eldredge, its release was preceded by the album's lead single "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You )" and second single "Santa, Can't You Hear Me". It also includes previously released singles "Christmas Eve", "All I Want for Christmas Is You", and "Under the Mistletoe" as bonus tracks. Promotion for the album included a Christmas special of the same title, which premiered on NBC on December 1, 2021. The Christmas special premiered with a 0.6 rating and 4.3 million total viewers. Background and recording. Following the release of her first Christmas album "Wrapped in Red" in 2013 on RCA Records, Clarkson transferred to Atlantic Records and has issued the Christmas tracks "Christmas Eve" (2017), "Under the Mistletoe  (with Brett Eldredge), and a cover of Vince Vance & the Valiants' All I Want for Christmas Is You" (2020). In an interview on the television program "Entertainment Tonight", she revealed that she was not originally intending to record another Christmas studio album due to her fondness for her first, but later decided to following the emotional stress induced by the highly publicized divorce the previous year. In recording the album, Clarkson recorded cover versions of various Christmas classics and wrote new material featuring duets with American recording artists Chris Stapleton and Ariana Grande. Themes and inspirations. Atlantic Records has promoted  When Christmas Comes Around... as an exploration of "a wide range of holiday emotions and experiences anchored by Clarkson's incomparable vocal prowess". Clarkson has elaborated that the album will explore various themes of love, loss, hope, and optimism — emotions that people tend to experience during the holiday season. Drawing inspiration from her experiences during the past two years, she remarked of the album's title, her first to not have a titular track since "My December" (2007), as "when Christmas comes around, we are all in different places." Further adding that its selection of tracks will both evoke a  somber and posit a jolly atmosphere. Characterizing it as "a "different" Christmas album", she portrayed "When Christmas Comes Around..." as feeling more like a normal studio album, but "there's Christmas sprinkled on it." Release. "When Christmas Comes Around..." was released by Atlantic Records on October 15, 2021. A special edition shipped exclusively to Target retail stores would also feature a Christmas card signed by Clarkson. Its lead single "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)", was released on September 23, 2021. "Glow" with Stapleton and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" with Grande were released as promotional singles alongside the  album's release. Critical reception. In a roundup of new holiday albums, "The New York Times" music critic Jon Caramanica praised Clarkson's "nimble" vocals and wrote that the original tracks, some of them strikingly "uncelebratory," make the album stand out. In the year-end episode of his Times podcast "Popcast," Caramanica again praised the album, calling it "very, very good," "solid" and "impressive," though "not quite Mariah-level." Mike DeWald of "Riff Magazine" praised how Clarkson's original songs are "something fresh and listenable." Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine", who gave the album three-and-a-half out of  five stars, criticized some production choices but praised Clarkson's "impressive" vocals and "melodic variations" on the classics as the "chief selling point." Marcy Donelson of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars, called it "a vibrant, fully orchestral, high-volume set on average," and singled out "Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know)" and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" as highlights among the newest tracks." "Vulture"s Justin Curto calls Clarkson "the queen of the holidays," saying how the album is a gift for Christmas. Curto especially appreciates the collaboration with Ariana Grande, as it  sounds "as majestic as you would expect from the two singers." Personnel. Credits adapted from the album's liner notes Recorded and engineered at Performance credits Musicians Production