Bublé combines old school Big Band charm with contemporary sensibility and production on Holiday Classics like It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells (ft. The Puppini Sisters), the wittily-updated Santa Buddy (a masculine accompaniment to Santa Baby) and personal favourite, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Results consistently are good.
Most surprisingly, he manages to coax a long-absent Shania Twain whose voice seems to have returned, lending her talents on White Christmas - a big treat. Bublé also ambitiously takes-on Mariah Carey's modern classic All I Want for Christmas is You, giving it a condensed Ballad treatment with mixed results. A take on U2's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) is highly listenable, taking a bit more of a laid-back approach compared to its Original. He even tries his hand at Latin in choir-backed Ave Maria and Spanish too with the help of Latin American Superstar Thalia on Feliz Navidad, showing a bit more versatility.
The Disc's lone new track, a co-penned Cold December Night picks-up where he left with popular mid-tempo and Adult Contemporary Radio-friendly single Haven't Met You Yet. Warner Music Canada releases Michael Bublé's Christmas on October 24, 2011. Order it on iTunes here.
Expect lots of Bublé this Holiday with an appearance on the NBC Tree Lighting on November 30, 2011, an NBC Holiday Special slated for December 6, 2011, a Co-Hosting gig on Live with Regis & Kelly appearances on December 15-16, 2011 and an appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live on December 17, 2011. Check your local listings for air times.
