Mayte Alguacil - Christmas Time (2017)

Christmas albums, by their seasonal nature, have a habit of resurfacing year after year, after staying dormant from January to November. This is the first visit to Christmas land by Mayte Alguacil, a lovely and moving singer who offers us seven traditional carols and devotional songs performed in a smooth, contemporary style. The selection ranges from deeply sweet classics such as The Christmas Song or What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?, to the swinging versions of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!.

Mayte’s singing comes out fresh and pure, straight from the heart, with a close love for the melody and full of the most mellow nuances, structured by her own feeling for simplicity. There is fantastic backing as well, by an outstanding quartet of musicians.

Christmas Time is an ideal gift, a set of seasonal music sung by a gal who delivers each song with talent and feeling, but be advised that you may want to keep it for your own listening pleasure.

—Jordi Pujol