Sia - Everyday Is Christmas (Japan Edition) (2018)

Sia's mission to put her idiosyncratic stamp on traditional forms like chart-topping pop and musicals continues with her holiday album Everyday Is Christmas. Working with longtime collaborator Greg Kurstin, Sia created the album to address the lack of good contemporary holiday music. While she gets credit for writing a set of original songs and not just reworking the season's overly familiar favorites, she doesn't reinvent Christmas music entirely. On much of the album, she and Kurstin give the musical DNA of '50s and '60s holiday hits like A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector and "Jingle Bell Rock" some 21st century pop gloss; "Candy Cane Lane" is stuffed full of sleigh bells and saxophones, while "Santa's Coming for Us" sets those sounds to a reggae-tinged beat. Over the course of the album, Sia tries to cover all the moods of the season: "Ho Ho Ho" gets into the Christmas spirit with gin, bourbon, and loopy cartoon sound effects; "Puppies Are Forever" could be from a children's holiday album; and "Sunshine" finds Sia helping a sad friend with heroic doses of Christmas cheer. However, some of the album's best moments tone down the merriment: "Underneath the Mistletoe" and "Underneath the Christmas Lights" fall within Sia's wheelhouse of dramatic ballads, while the cozy, piano-driven "Snowman" is cute without being over the top. ~ Heather Phares