Deliberately designed as an homage to perhaps the greatest pop Christmas album ever, the 1963 classic A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, Leona Lewis' 2013 seasonal album Christmas, with Love is by any measure a welcome surprise.
Warmer and shorter than any of her previous albums, Christmas, with Love emphasizes Leona the singer, not the Leona the diva, and while this is certainly overblown -- anything patterned after Spector isn't striving for intimacy -- she gets a greater chance to sing here than she did on her third album, Glassheart, which is reason enough to enjoy the album, but better still is that the Spector salute largely works.
Occasionally, the newly written songs are a little sleepy, but it's only when she ventures into a stately carol, as she does on "Your Hallelujah." This is the exception on an album that's buoyant and bright, filled with clattering good cheer, sleigh bells, choirs, and saxophones.
Lewis covers three songs from A Christmas Gift (the ubiquitous "Christmas [Baby Please Come Home]," "Winter Wonderland," and "Silent Night"); pays tribute to Roy Wood's joyous Spector homage "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"; and then co-writes two of her own, "One More Sleep" and "Mr.
Right," new seasonal selections that could turn out to be perennials.
Christmas, with Love is that rare thing: a tribute that is faithful to its inspiration while working on its own terms.
It's one of the best modern Christmas albums in memory.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One More SleepJez Ashurst, Bradford Ellis, Iain James, Leona Lewis, Richard "Biff" Stannard | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Winter WonderlandFelix Bernard, Dick Smith | Leona Lewis | Play | 02:24 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | White ChristmasIrving Berlin | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Your HallelujahLauren Christy, Jon Levine, Leona Lewis, Autumn Rowe | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector | Leona Lewis | Play | 02:37 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Mr. RightJez Ashurst, Ash Howes, Leona Lewis, Camille Purcell, Richard "Biff" Stannard | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | O Holy NightTraditional | Leona Lewis | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Ave MariaFranz Anton Schubert, Walter Scott | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:00 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Silent NightFranz Grüber, Joseph Mohr | Leona Lewis | Play | 02:19 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | I Wish It Could Be Christmas Ever | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 32 mins | 74 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adetoun Anibi | Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Jez Ashurst | Composer, Keyboards, Programming |
| 3 | Simon Baggs | Violin |
| 4 | Jeff Barry | Composer |
| 5 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 6 | Felix Bernard | Composer |
| 7 | Mark Berrow | Violin |
| 8 | Rachel Bolt | Viola |
| 9 | Reiad Chibah | Viola |
| 10 | Lauren Christy | Composer |
| 11 | Bianca Claxton | Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Roz Colls | String Contractor |
| 13 | David Daniels | Celli |
| 14 | Seton Daunt | Bass, Guitar |
| 15 | Barnaby Dickinson | Trombone |
| 16 | Diva Singers | Choir/Chorus |
| 17 | Bradford Ellis | Composer |
| 18 | Graeme Flowers | Trumpet |
| 19 | Richard George | Violin |
| 20 | Timothy Grant | Viola |
| 21 | Ellie Greenwich | Composer |
| 22 | Franz Grüber | Composer |
| 23 | Peter Hason | Violin |
| 24 | Marianne Haynes | Violin |
| 25 | Kelli-Leigh Henry-Davila | Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Jonathan Hill | Violin |
| 27 | Nick Holland | Celli, Viola |
| 28 | Katie Holmes | Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Ash Howes | Composer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocal Producer |
| 30 | Iain James | Composer |
| 31 | Matt Kemp | Vocal Engineer |
| 32 | Patrick Kiernan | Violin |
| 33 | Zalika King | Vocals (Background) |
| 34 | Knight Time Horns | Brass |
| 35 | James Knight | Saxophone |
| 36 | Boguslav Kostecki | Violin |
| 37 | Peter Lale | Viola |
| 38 | Julian Leaper | Violin |
| 39 | Gabrielle Lester | Violin |
| 40 | Jon Levine | Composer |
| 41 | Leona Lewis | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocal Producer |
| 42 | Tony Lewis | Celli |
| 43 | Martin Loveday | Celli |
| 44 | Cliff Masterson | Choir Arrangement, Choir Conductor, Piano, String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 45 | Laura Melhuish | Violin |
| 46 | Joseph Mohr | Composer |
| 47 | Perry Montague-Mason | Violin |
| 48 | Steve Morris | Violin |
| 49 | Kerenza Peacock | Violin |
| 50 | Tom Piggott-Smith | Leader, Violin |
| 51 | Camille Purcell | Composer |
| 52 | Nerys Richards | Celli, Viola |
| 53 | Autumn Rowe | Composer |
| 54 | Mark Santangelo | Mastering |
| 55 | Franz Anton Schubert | Composer |
| 56 | Walter Scott | Composer |
| 57 | Freddy Sheed | Drums |
| 58 | Emlyn Singleton | Violin |
| 59 | Dick Smith | Composer |
| 60 | Phil Spector | Composer |
| 61 | Richard "Biff" Stannard | Composer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocal Producer |
| 62 | Christopher Tombling | Violin |
| 63 | Traditional | Composer |
| 64 | Greg Walmsley | Celli, Viola |
| 65 | Allen Whalley | Bass |
| 66 | Bruce White | Viola |
| 67 | Rolf Wilson | Leader, Violin |
| 68 | Roy Wood | Composer |
| 69 | Warren Zielinski | Violin |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |