ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Like many others this month, I’ve been indulging in Christmas music both at home and at the office to get myself in a merry mood. Recently, YouTube made another great recommendation that is sure to remain among my Christmas playlist for a long time with Mickey Guyton’s “Feels Like Christmas” album. The album was apparently released near the end of October and after I finished listening to it, I was left thinking “Why did it take so long for this to get recommended to me?!”
To start, Guyton’s vocals throughout the album are great. Guyton has such a sweet and fun voice, and she clearly has a lot of talent, leaving me in disbelief at having not heard more of her before now. In fact, I might even have to look up some of her non-holiday music after the start of the new year. She also clearly had a lot of fun recording this album, and I heard just so much joy in each song, which always makes for a great listening experience when I find a new album to listen to. Overall, Guyton has a great voice for Christmas music, and I loved listening to her on every song.
I also really liked how the album was mostly original songs compared to some other Christmas albums I’ve listened to in the past – don’t get me wrong, I love the classics and find myself humming them this time of year, but in my opinion, there are only so many ways a musician can cover “12 Days of Christmas” or “Run, Run Rudolph” or “Away in a Manger” without people sighing and thinking “THIS song again?” I also really liked how the songs were all pretty positive and wanted to evoke a merry Christmas mood – however, most of them also had an undercurrent of a love song, and I felt like there could have been at least some variety in that respect. No shade to Guyton or the songs themselves, but it just happened to be something I noticed. One of the original songs on the album, “Christmas Isn’t Christmas,” pairs Guyton with none other than Michael Bolton, which I thought to be a bit of an odd duet partnership – again, absolutely no shade toward Bolton, but with a project like this, I’m not entirely sure he would have been at the top of the list for duet partners, but that’s just me. The album does feature a few covers including “O Holy Night,” which was slightly jazzed up and REALLY let Guyton’s voice soar, and “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman,” which sounded like a more grown-up take (and the music video is also very neat to watch). There’s not a single song on this album I wanted to skip over, which is rather rare for me because it seems like a lot of albums I listen to have that one song that makes me think “How did THAT make it out of the recording studio?!” I feel like any of the songs on the album would fit in perfectly at a mall or a coffee shop setting, and overall, I really enjoyed the songs and lyric work.
I feel like Guyton’s main goal with this album was to have fun recording and make a fun and happy Christmas album for listeners, and that’s ultimately what I got with each song. It’s overall a very upbeat album and definitely a good one to help get in the holiday spirit either as background music for a party or wrapping gifts or doing that annual holiday baking. If I had one major gripe (and in truth, it’s not even that major), I would have liked the album to be even a little longer – the album has only eight songs and lasts slightly less than 30 minutes, but I wouldn’t have minded even a few more songs to help extend Guyton’s musical merriment.
Overall, Mickey Guyton put together a very enjoyable Christmas album with “Feels Like Christmas,” and I would give it a solid “A” grade. Guyton’s voice is super sweet and fun, her talent shines forth on each song of the album, and it honestly felt like she just wanted to have fun recording and making a fun Christmas album. As I said earlier, I honestly can’t believe I haven’t heard more of her before now. I also really liked how the album was mostly original music – all of which I enjoyed – but the couple covers featured on the album were also done really, really well. My only major quarrel is I would’ve liked the album to be maybe a little longer, because at eight songs at just less than 30 minutes, it wasn’t quite enough for me. If you’re a fan of any of Mickey Guyton’s other music, and if you’re looking for something to cue up for your Christmas gathering later today, “Feels Like Christmas” would be a good one.
Merry Christmas!
