Unless you count the perennial Christmastime TV broadcasts of The Sound Of Music, the most appealing track on King’s lightweight but perfectly pleasant holiday album is a not an especially festive tune. Her reworking of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s My Favourite Things is a million miles from Julie Andrews, the new arrangement referencing the mellow vibes of Tapestry, its tempo recalling It’s Too Late in particular.
King also eschews traditional seasonal fare by covering William Bell’s finger-clicking Stax classic Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday, complete with deftly punctuating horns, and stays in a soul groove for an economical reading of Donny Hathaway’s This Christmas. There’s less adventurousness on standard versions of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas or Do You Hear What I Hear?, but even those old chestnuts glow brighter when gift-wrapped in King’s emotive voice.
Daughter and producer Louise Goffin works wonders in keeping mum’s vocal front-and- centre, also writing three new songs for the project, among which the Latino-flavoured Christmas Paradise stands out. It’s all good stuff, with at least a couple of tracks you’ll find yourself playing well in to the New Year.
