Holiday tunes new and old

NEW YORK — It’s not the holiday season until the house is full of festive music, from classics to covers and reimaginations across genres, for all to enjoy.

In honor of the most wonderful time of the year, here are some of the best new holiday releases of the 2024 season.

• Vince Gill and Amy Grant, “When I Think of Christmas”

When it comes to country music Christmas classics, Vince Gill and Amy Grant immediately come to mind. The two are no strangers to holiday music, and their latest collection, “When I Think of Christmas,” channels the spirit of their popular “Christmas at the Ryman” residency in Nashville, with two new recordings: a duet of “’Til the Season Comes Round Again” and Grant’s take on the title track.

• The Carpenters, “Christmas Once More”

Sometimes the best holiday album listening experience is enjoying the classics, but newly remixed and remastered. Enter the 16-track “Christmas Once More” from the Carpenters. Fall in love with “Sleigh Ride” and “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays” all over again.

• Jennifer Hudson, “The Gift of Love”

Jennifer Hudson has done a ton in her career — including winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, making her the rare performer to EGOT, as the expression goes — but a holiday album? That’s new territory. “The Gift of Love” is her first, full of big-hearted classics like “O Holy Night,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Auld Lang Syne” and “Carol of the Bells,” which features the a cappella-meets-Zulu music South African group The Joy. The album also contains some inventive originals. In that category: “Almost Christmas” with Common.

• Little Big Town, “The Christmas Record”

Another big name in contemporary music has released its first holiday album. Little Big Town’s “The Christmas Record,” produced by the legendary Dave Cobb, is a country music spectacular. Like Hudson’s, this one is a collection of familiar tunes along with originals — like the opener “Glow,” and the cheery vocal harmony of its chorus: “That shine, that shimmer deep inside of you / Find that magic, let the light in you show / Let it go / Let it glow.”

• Toby Keith, “Christmas to Christmas”

In February, country superstar Toby Keith, a hit crafter of pro-American anthems who riled up critics and was loved by millions of fans, died at 62. In the time since, he’s been eulogized and celebrated, and that continues with a newly remastered reissue of his 1995 holiday classic, “Christmas to Christmas.”

• Clay Aiken, “Christmas Bells Are Ringing”

Clay Aiken — the onetime “American Idol” runner-up and politician — has returned with his first studio album in over a decade, “Christmas Bells Are Ringing.” His voice sounds as sweet and theatrical as ever.

• Jimmy Fallon, “Holiday Seasoning”

At the intersection of Christmas and comedy albums comes Jimmy Fallon’s “Holiday Seasoning.” The “Tonight Show” host gets into the spirit of the season, with jokes — and some A-list guests — included. Check out “Almost Too Early for Christmas” with Dolly Parton, “Hallmark Movie” with Cara Delevingne and “New Year’s Eve Polka (5-4-3-2-1)” featuring the Roots and Weird Al. It’s exactly what it sounds like.

• The Philly Specials, “A Philly Special Christmas Party”

For a third year in a row, the Philly Specials — former Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce and current Eagles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata — have released a holiday album. “A Philly Special Christmas Party” benefits the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. If getting NFL stars to sing sounds funny, well, that’s kind of the point. Fun and absurdity are this album’s superpowers. On “Maybe This Christmas,” Kelce (brother to Travis Kelce) and Stevie Nicks duet, singing, “And maybe forgiveness will ask us to call / Someone we love / Someone we’ve lost for reasons we can’t quite recall / Maybe this Christmas.”