Season’s Greetings

The album,which is her thirteenth studio album,also has her singing the re-recorded version of All I want for Christmas is you . “I really loved making that album and it has been a long time since then. I felt that it is an appropriate time for me to be creating this type of music. I was fortunate enough to be able to work mostly from home and I decorated the house like Christmas even in the summer. I had a potted Christmas tree,all lit up and just watching it while I was singing made me so happy,” says Carey,in an email interview from New York.

The album opens with the classic All I want… and goes onto different arrangements for carols like Little Drummer Boy that has been mixed with O Little Town of Bethlehem. “It’s my favorite holiday and I just wanted to make sure that with this new album,it would be something that I would listen to for the rest of my life,just like I listen to the first one,” says Carey,who is expecting twins. The album,she says,has been influenced by Nat King Cole,Jackson Five and Danny Hath. “It was all about creating new classics by keeping it very traditional and keeping the up- tempo festive happy moods,” she says. The album also throws in a couple of surprises like a duet with her mother where she sings her classic number— O Come All Ye Faithful .

Even though the festive season has seen the release of several high-octane singles by the likes of Coldplay,The Killers and even Susan Boyle,Carey’s album has been steadily climbing the charts.

“I have kept it more traditional,more on the Gospel side. It was about bringing classical and gospel together,” explains the singer.