Album Review: Leona Lewis – Christmas, With Love
2 min read
One of the most successful artists ever produced by The X-Factor, British superstar Leona Lewis has utilised her angelic voice in a festive Christmas themed album. The sweetly named Christmas, With Love features a total of 10 tracks including a handful of original Holiday themed tunes and Lewis’ takes on a bunch of classic Christmas songs.
Leona Lewis has one of the most killer voices in the biz, and Christmas, With Love is a perfect reminder of why we all fell for the singer-songwriter to begin with. Every Christmas themed album runs the risk of becoming sappy or cheesy in an attempt to be overly merry, but Lewis’ beautiful voice delivers each song cheerfully with just the right amount of cheesiness. The album length is effective as having a round even number of songs leave us wanting more as opposed to getting sick and tired of the cheer.
The album opens with the lead single One More Sleep, a Mo-town sounding original Christmas tune co-written by Leona. The song sets the mood instantly for the rest of the album, preparing us for a collection of bubbly festive treats.
Up next are Leona’s versions of the classic Christmas anthems Winter Wonderland and White Christmas. For two songs that have been covered countless times, Ms Lewis has done a fine job of making them sound new again. White Christmas is particularly impressive, showing off that voice that won her the X-Factor title 7 years ago.
The second original song comes in the form of Your Hallelujah, a soft Christmas ballad which is probably the slowest track on an otherwise mostly upbeat and chirpy record. The original songs are rounded out with Mr. Right, following a glowing cover of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Mr. Right is a peppy number complete with jingle bells and a plea to Santa to deliver the perfect man (“There’s nothing I need/Under my tree/I just want Mr. Right”).
Following the upbeat Mr. Right, things slow right down for Leona’s take on thefamous O Holy Night before winding down the album with I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day and Ave Maria.
As no Christmas album would be complete without it, Leona saves the most iconic cover for last, with her rendition of Silent Night doing the honour of closing the record. The delicate and peaceful carol is the perfect end to such a busy and upbeat Holiday album, again proving why Leona is such a household name.
Christmas, With Love is a wonderfully festive collection and the perfect gift for any Leona Lewis fan, or essentially any fan of Christmas. Every track has lots of commercial appeal and will more than likely hit shopping mall sound systems very soon, especially the poppy lead single One More Sleep. Grinches beware!
