 Holiday special editions are out. From left are SM’s “The Warmest Gift,” “Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Vol. 2” from the television show “Glee,” and Korean singer Kim Dong-ryul’s “kimdongrYULE.” / Courtesy of artists |
By Noh Hyun-gi
One of the joys of Christmas season is listening to the renditions of classic holiday songs as well as new beats that carry on the spirit by your favorite artists.
After four years of absence, entertainment agency SM released “The Warmest Gift” on Tuesday. SM Town or the agency’s singers had released holiday music starting with the first album “Christmas in SM Town” in 1999. But it stopped producing such albums in 2007.
This return to tradition features a vast lineup of the agency’s artists including TVXQ, BoA, Girls’ Generation SHINee and Super Junior.
To global fans’ joy, all 11 tracks are in English with seven new songs and four remakes of holiday staples such as “Last Christmas” by SHINee and “Sleigh Ride” by TVXQ.
The title track “Santa U Are the One” by Super Junior is an upbeat song that will surely entertain. The music video was released Tuesday, showing behind-the-scenes clips of SM Town artists working on the album.
It is released today in Japan.
R&B singer Kim Dong-ryul also made a long overdue comeback in time for the holidays. He released “kimdongrYULE” on Nov. 16 after his last album “Monologue” in 2008.
It contains eight songs, a nice mix of Kim’s ballads and holiday carols. Listening to the heartbreaking title track on breaking up, “Replay,” along with “It’s Christmas” and “Christmas Gift” with Kim’s deep yet clear voice offers a unique shade of mellowness.
The cast of teen TV show “Glee,” who have been entertaining the viewers with showy remakes, released "Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Vol. 2” with 12 songs on Nov. 15. In the title track "All I Want for Christmas is You,” Amber Riley (Mercedes in the show) boasts her strong vocals. Naya Rivera, who plays Santana, does a great job at delivering a sultry version of "Santa Baby."
Most notably, the cast presents a rendition of historically successful track “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid from 1984. The song was originally produced to raise money for a famine in Ethiopia, and sold a million copies in the first week alone.
New members cast through the spin-off reality show “The Glee Project” ― Lindsay Pearce, Alex Newell, and Damian McGinty ― are featured on “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Blue Christmas.”
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