September is almost coming to a close, and while some are thinking about spooky season, Kelly Clarkson is already getting geared up for the winter holidays with her song, “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)”. She dropped the Christmas-meets-break-up-song yesterday:
It feels SO odd to be writing about holiday music while I’m thinking about what my Halloween costume is going to be this year, but I guess Kelly wanted to get some hype around her holiday album titled, When Christmas Comes Around… set for release October 15th (which still feels early to me).
Whatever her reasoning is, this song is good, and a perfect amount of shady to get people talking about it. Holiday songs are usually more difficult to make stand out because if they aren’t just a cover of a song that’s already iconic, it’s a song that sounds just like everything else, and ends up being overlooked. What makes this song different is that it's also a break up song, which coincides with her divorce from Brandon Blackstock in 2020. The holidays can be tough for people going through all kinds of loss. But based on these lyrics, I think Kelly is turning the page and moving into a new season in her life:
I’m not feeling incomplete
Turns out I don't need a thing underneath my tree.
I love this for her. After the messy split, it’s nice to see her find confidence in her singleness. I just don’t know if it’s enough to become a holiday tune staple. All that said, she cracked the code with “Underneath the Tree” back in 2013, so there’s no doubt that she’s capable. But with that song, it was happy, and cheery, and about presents, which is usually what all popular holiday songs include. Since “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)” has a different approach than the rest, I don’t think it will become something we hear in every other store we walk into at the mall while buying presents.
If it's not this new song, maybe the breakout song will be one of the other tracks expected on this album coming out in October. Her fellow The Voice coach, Ariana Grande, is featured on “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me”, and Chris Stapleton will be featured on “Glow”. She’s also got Brett Eldredge on “Under The Mistletoe” as a bonus track. Duets are always a good call for holiday tunes, so we’ll see which one reigns supreme.
Until then, here’s the tracklist for When Christmas Comes Around…
- Merry Christmas Baby
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
- Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)
- Merry Christmas (To The One I Used To Know)
- Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
- Glow (feat. Chris Stapleton)
- Santa Baby
- Santa, Can't You Hear Me (feat. Ariana Grande)
- Last Christmas
- Jingle Bell Rock
- Blessed
- Christmas Come Early
- Under The Mistletoe (Bonus Track)
- All I Want For Christmas Is You (Bonus Track)
- Christmas Eve (Bonus Track)
