The album will mark the multi-platinum selling band's second Christmas release. The announcements were revealed in the midst of celebrating their second No. 1 hit, "Flawless," (Billboard's Christian AC Indicator chart) from the best-selling Welcome to the New project (2014).
MercyMe has spent much of the summer recording MercyMe, It's Christmas! with producer Brown Bannister at the helm. Their last Christmas album, The Christmas Sessions (2005), was heralded as an instant classic and garnered them a spot on The Tonight Show as well as ABC's annual Disney Christmas Parade. MercyMe, It's Christmas! reinterprets classic holiday songs mixed with originals, soaring emotive ballads, fun, up-tempos tracks and original compositions.
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Christmas Music Done Right| Posted October 10, 2015
Hot on the heels of their majorly successful spring 2014 release Welcome To The New, this summer MercyMe unveiled news of their second Christmas album. MercyMe! It's Christmas is the follow up to 2005's The Christmas Sessions and features fun holiday favorites, recreated Christmas classics and festive originals.
Original offering "The Newborn Has Come" begins the album with a mix of new lyrics and words from the classics "Away In A Manger" and "Hark The Herold Angels Sing." Also originals, "Christmastime Again" and "Hold On Christmas" are both tracks that center around the topic of the holiday's fast-paced nature and are sure to get you moving with their upbeat energy.
Slower favorites "Sleigh Ride" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" add signature MercyMe style to already well-loved classics. "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "Do You Hear What I Hear" bring the tempo back up and display Bart's flawlessly smooth vocals that soar across high and low notes alike.
With a bit of a southern feel, original song "Our Lullaby" brings words of peace and rest based off the Christmas story. Standout track "Joy" shows off Bart's vocal range yet again as he mixes "O Come Let Us Adore Him" and "Joy To The World" with original lyrics for a beautiful moment. "O Come, O Come" brings the album to a close with stunning harmonies from the group.
Closing Thoughts: MercyMe! It's Christmas serves the purpose of both bringing to life new Christmas music and reviving old classics. If this past year has told us anything about the MercyMe guys, it's that they are now more confident than ever in who they are as a band, and this second Christmas album is further proof of that. Well-crafted melodies, perfectly mixed lyrics and Bart Millard's incredibly strong vocals are a great combo for any album. It's Christmas is certainly a success as far as Christmas records go and is sure to be the soundtrack to many holiday festivities in homes around the country this season.
Song To Download Now:
"Joy" (Get it on iTunes here.)