The Christmas season always brings some great music from artists, whether it be covers or original hits. Laufey’s A Very Laufey Holiday, released November 1, 2024, consists entirely of holiday-themed covers. The EP includes 5 tracks: “Santa Baby,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Christmas Dreaming”, “The Christmas Waltz,” and “Love to Keep Me Warm.” This work is sort of hard to review because it is a cover album. This means that the songs are already established and well liked, which means that the artist has most of the work done for them already. I’m predisposed to like the songs because they are already popular, so it is hard to be completely objective. So, I will be trying to review this album based on what Laufey adds to each track. “How does she make each song better?”; “Does she make any of the songs worse?”; etc. So, for this review, a 5 will be that the song is not affected by Laufey at all, anything above a 5 will be a positive effect, anything lower will be negative. Moving on, A Very Laufey Holiday only has one feature, being Dodie on “Love to Keep Me Warm.” Laufey is known for her jazz/pop musical style, and she blew up on her previous album Bewitched in no small part due to her hit single “From the Start.” A Very Laufey Holiday sticks with Laufey’s established style, relying on this strong base to put Laufey’s twist on many popular holiday classics. Obviously, the theme of this album is Christmas. Not much to talk about here. Santa, togetherness, snow, winter, etc. It’s Christmas.
Standout Track
Since there are only 5 tracks on A Very Laufey Holiday, I will only be highlighting one standout track: “The Christmas Waltz.” I picked this track because I thought that it was the song that was improved the most compared to the original. I am comparing Laufey’s version to Sinatra’s version when I say this. I have listened to the Sinatra “The Christmas Waltz” many times, and I never thought that this track was anything more than average in terms of Christmas songs. I thought it was a bit slow for my liking, and that it dragged a little. Laufey fixes both of these problems in her cover, and she adds a nice bit at the end with children singing the song that I really like. The jazz and pop influences really help “The Christmas Waltz” as well, and I love the production of this song. It brings about feelings of togetherness, love, and of course Christmas so well. This is a great cover that stands a bit above the rest.
Stinker
Due to the fact that A Very Laufey Holiday is a cover album, (and a high-quality one at that), it is pretty much impossible for me to choose a stinker. None of these songs are bad, and Laufey only makes them better. She doesn’t detract from any of these tracks, so there really can’t be a stinker. So, a rare no-stinker review for A Very Laufey Holiday.
Song Ratings and 1-Word Descriptions
- “Santa Baby” – (9/10): Fun
- “Winter Wonderland” – (8/10): Solid
- “Christmas Dreaming” – (7.5/10): Chill
- “The Christmas Waltz” – (10/10): Impressive
- “Love to Keep Me Warm” – (8/10): Cozy
Conclusion
Reviewing a cover album, more specifically reviewing a CHRISTMAS cover album, might have been a mistake. I really love all these songs, but it’s so hard to differentiate between what I like about the original song and what I like about Laufey’s version. Laufey does a great job covering these songs, and I do believe that she added to each track she covered. She’s a very talented artist and her usage of jazz instruments is great. Her voice is strong, warm, and overall pleasant to listen to. The problem that I find myself having is that I don’t have much, if anything, bad to say about A Very Laufey Holiday. It’s simply too safe. All of the song choices on here are great, and I think they complement Laufey’s style very well. That being said, a cover album can never completely take the credit for being good because the artist didn’t create the songs to begin with. So, Christmas albums that aren’t original are kind of universally impossible to review in my opinion. Even so, I’m doing this one, so I need a conclusion: A Very Laufey Christmas improves upon every track included. The album is very high quality, with Laufey adding a unique vibe and a strong voice. It was a joy to listen to. 8/10.
