When Christmas Comes Around...


When Christmas Comes Around... is the second Christmas album and ninth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released through Atlantic Records on October 15, 2021. Produced by Jesse Shatkin, Jason Halbert, Joseph Trapanese and Aben Eubanks, it is her second Christmas album after Wrapped in Red and a follow-up to her eighth album Meaning of Life. Conceived after the emotional turmoil of her public divorce, When Christmas Comes Around... is a breakup holiday album that features cover versions of Christmas songs, as well as original co-penned tracks and duets with Chris Stapleton, Ariana Grande, and Brett Eldredge.
Critics broadly praised When Christmas Comes Around... for Clarkson’s powerful, versatile vocals and mix of fresh originals with standout classics, though some noted uneven production and felt the new songs failed to match her previous holiday work. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. 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. Its release was preceded by the singles "Christmas Isn't Canceled " and "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. A deluxe reissue of the album featuring two new tracks was released on November 1, 2024, including the single "You for Christmas".

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", "Under the Mistletoe", and a cover of Vince Vance & the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You". 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, 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 ", 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. The deluxe reissue of the album entitled When Christmas Comes Around… Again was released on November 1, 2024.

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 impressive," though "not quite Mariah-level." Mike DeWald of Riff Magazine praised how Clarkson's original songs are "something fresh and listenable." Alan Sculley, writing for The Wichita Eagle, called When Christmas Comes Around... another "stellar holiday album". He found that it was "anything but the typical holiday album" and concluded: "Whatever the songs, they often come with full orchestration and plenty of studio polish, yet don't sound overproduced. Now with two stellar holiday albums to her credit, fans will be ready whenever another Clarkson Christmas album comes around again.
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 " and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" as highlights among the newest tracks." Helmi Yusof from The Business Times noted that "Clarkson keeps it classy with her second Christmas album." He felt that "the best songs are the familiar ones, such as George Michael's "Last Christma"s sung as a slinky jazz number and "Jingle Bell Rocks" getting some lift from her powerful lungs." Vultures Justin Curto called Clarkson "the queen of the holidays", calling the album a gift for Christmas. Curto especially appreciated the collaboration with Ariana Grande, as it sounds "as majestic as you would expect from the two singers." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine found that while the original songs on When Christmas Comes Around... "don't quite live up to the lofty bar she previously set" on Wrapped in Red, the album "juxtaposes the yuletide blues with jubilant holiday standards," further noting that "Clarkson's vocals, then, are the album’s chief selling point."

Commercial performance

By December 2021, the album had sold 93,000 album-equivalent units.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes
Recorded and engineered at
  • Brooklyn, New York
  • Burbank, California
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Nashville, Tennessee
  • New York City
  • Pasadena, California
  • Studio City, California
  • Universal City, California
Performance credits
  • Kelly Clarkson – all vocals
  • Jessi Collins – background vocals
  • Luke Edgemon – background vocals
  • Brett Eldredge – featured vocals
  • Ariana Grande – featured vocals
  • Nayanna Holley – background vocals
  • Tiffany Palmer – background vocals
  • Bridget Sarai – background vocals
  • Chris Stapleton – featured vocals
  • Brandon Winbush – background vocals
Musicians
  • Isabel Bartles – violin
  • Kevin Bate – cello
  • Hari Bernstein – viola
  • Idalynn Besser – viola
  • Jenny Bifano – violin
  • Charlie Bisharat – violin
  • Laura Brenes – French horn
  • Jimmy Bowland – saxophone
  • Jaco Caraco – guitar
  • Paul Cartwright – violin
  • Bruce Christiansen – viola
  • Leroy Clampitt – bass
  • Stuart Clark – clarinet
  • Ryan Cockman – violin
  • Maria Conti – violin
  • Mike Cordone – trumpet
  • Phil Cornish – Hammond B3 organ
  • Wade Culbreath – timpani
  • Janet Darnall – violin
  • Charles Dixon – viola
  • Andrew Duckles – viol
  • Timothy Eckert – bass
  • Conni Ellisor – violin
  • Alicia Enstrom – violin
  • Lester Estelle – drums
  • Aben Eubanks – bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion
  • Leslie Fagan – flute
  • Katelyn Faraudo – French horn
  • Nicholas Gold – cello
  • Ali Gooding – violin
  • Erik Gratton – flute
  • Gerald Greer – violin
  • Jim Grosjean – viola
  • Jason Halbert – Hammond B3 organ, keyboards, piano, programming
  • Erin Hall – violin
  • Dylan Hart – French horn
  • Neel Hammond – violin
  • Keyon Harrold – trumpet
  • Amy Helman – violin
  • Mark Hill – bass
  • Luanne Homzy – violin
  • Jack Jezserio – bass
  • Tommy King – organ, piano
  • Pete Korpela – percussion
  • Jennifer Kummer – French horn
  • Marisa Kunney – violin
  • Anthony LaMarchina – cello
  • Jules Levy – bass
  • Keith Loftis – tenor saxophone
  • Tim Loo – cello
  • Lucia Micarelli – violin
  • Camille Miller – violin
  • Jeffrey Miller – trombone
  • Jesse McGinty – saxophone
  • Ray Montiero – trumpet
  • Craig Nelson– bass
  • Jenni Olsen – flute
  • Alyssa Park – violin
  • Anthony Parnther – bassoon
  • Greg Phillinganes – piano
  • Peter Povey – violin
  • Linnea Powell – viola
  • Aaron Redfield – drums, percussion
  • Sari Reist – cello
  • Danny Rivera – baritone saxophone
  • Katty Rodriguez – baritone saxophone
  • Rob Schaer – trumpet
  • Erick Serna – guitar, ukulele
  • Jesse Shatkin – drum programming, percussion, synthesizers
  • Jung-Min Shin – violin
  • Garrett Smith – trombone
  • Vanessa Freebairn Smith – cello
  • Ron Sorbo – timpani, percussion
  • Anna Spina – French horn
  • Marcus Strickland – tenor saxophone
  • Luke Sullivant – guitar
  • Amy Tatum – flute
  • Charlie Tyler – cello
  • Alan Umstead – violin
  • Catherine Umstead – violin
  • Mary Kathryn VanOsdale – violin
  • Ina Veli – violin
  • Diana Wade – violin
  • Corey Wallace – trombone
  • Bruce Wethey – violin
  • Kyle Whalum – bass, upright bass
  • Lara Wickes – oboe
  • Karen Winklemann – violin
  • Shu-Zheng – viola
Production
  • BTW Productions – music preparation
  • Drew Atz – brass recording
  • Greg Gigendad Burke – art direction and design
  • Nick Cazares – music librarian
  • John Chapman – orchestra recording
  • Nathan Cimino – engineer
  • Anthony Circo – scoring coordinator
  • Kelly Clarkson – executive producer
  • Jessi Collins – vocal arrangements
  • Mike Cordone – brass arrangement
  • Danja – co-producer
  • Spencer Dennis – assistant
  • John DeNosky – additional engineer, additional programming
  • Sam Dent – engineer
  • Jeff Fitzpatrick – pro tools operator
  • Gloria Elias-Foeillet – makeup
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Jason Halbert – arrangement, producer
  • Jennifer Hammond – additional orchestrations
  • John Hanes – engineer
  • Tom Hardisty – Eastwood Stage crew
  • Keyon Harrold – brass arrangement
  • Luanne Hornzy – concertmaster
  • Jason Lazarus – additional arrangement
  • Mark Lubetski – backline technician
  • Craig Kallman – executive producer
  • Whitney Martin – orchestra contractor
  • Candace Lambert McAndrews – styling
  • Jamie Olvera – Eastwood Stage crew
  • Rachel Orscher – additional programming
  • Tom Peltier – 2nd engineer
  • Greg Phillinganes – arrangement
  • Robert Ramos – hair
  • Clark Rhea – additional arrangement
  • Mark Ronson – producer
  • Jesse Shatkin – engineer, producer
  • Carter Smith – photography
  • Nick Spezia – orchestra recording engineer
  • Andy Taub – engineer
  • Joseph Trapanese – orchestra arrangement, conductor, production
  • Robert Venable – engineer
  • Alan Umstead – orchestra contractor
  • Sam Wahl – engineer
  • Richard Wheeler, Jr. – Eastwood Stage crew
  • Booker White – music preparation
  • Shane Wilson – engineer
  • Derek Zeoli – technical coordinato
  • Ginna Zimmitti – orchestra contractor

    Charts

Release history