The Carpenters' famous music duo released their ninth studio album "Christmas Portrait" on October 13, 1978. Not all artists are up to the task, while releasing a Christmas album is a time-honoured commercial tradition. Thanks to Richard Carpenter’s studio expertise, a large studio orchestra and chorus, terrific arrangements, and, most of all, Karen Carpenter’s angelic vocals, "Christmas Portrait" is a timeless album that only gets better with each passing holiday. After "The Carpenters At Christmas" TV special aired on December 9, 1977, the sibling duo decided it was finally the time to record a Christmas album. Spanning most of the seasonal classics, both sacred and secular, they ended up recording more than enough for "Christmas Portrait," which tested the limits of how much music could fit on an LP. The album is quintessentially American, with even the cover modelled after Norman Rockwell’s famous self-portrait. The tracklist traverses through myriad standards backed with arrangements by Peter Knight, Billy May, and Richard Carpenter. The best holiday albums have the Pavlovian effect of evoking a rosy glow of comfort, while the worst of them remind you of being trapped at the mall. Thankfully, "Christmas Portrait" is of the former, blanketing the audience in strings, horns, bells, and cherubic backup singers that borders on celestial. While most of the classics are covered, the album follows a narrative structure, with the a cappella O Come, O come Immanuel and ends with / the Bach / Gounod “Ave Maria.” But the most memorable song to come out of the album is inarguably the bittersweet “Merry Christmas Darling,” with music written by Richard in 1966, to lyrics by the duo’s University choir director Frank Pooler, who’d written them two decades before. While it was initially released as a single in 1970, the Christmas album included a new lead vocal by Karen, who was not entirely satisfied with her original. The album went platinum not long after its release and has gone on to become a classic.

Cuban-American songstress, Lauren Jauregui, released her debut project "Prelude," a profoundly personal seven-track project fully written by Jauregui. The soft, sexy, meditative tracks provide a new perspective to the singer's artistry and life up to this point. "I learned a lot about myself sonically," Jauregui said about the writing process. "This round of life and music that I'm giving people is genuine expressions of my experiences in life, and introspection into my own inner world and just s— that's happened to me in my life. It's not necessarily all tragic, but there are definitely a lot of layers to the emotions." Among the tracks are songs such as "Falling," a song about feeling emotionally exhausted while pleading for support, on her latest single, "On Guard" featuring 6LACK about being afraid to open up to a new lover and "Sorry," a poignant song about falling out of love. Prelude's release marks the liberation of Lauren Jauregui, seeing her moving into new artistic spaces with open arms. "I think even entertaining [Prelude] these past few months...like remnants of her have come up for me," she says of the project's creative process. "I needed to [hear] it and say, ‘No. I’ve healed past this, and I don’t need to pull myself into this space again because I am not this person. I am not in that space anymore, I’ve learned, and I know better now.’ It’s still a tether, it’s an ebb and flow, and I’m learning to be more inflow. I feel like once I let these songs go,"

Superstar Mariah Carey has recruited Khalid and Kirk Franklin for her new holiday single, "Fall in Love at Christmas." The track will be performed on Carey's new Apple TV+ Holiday special, "Mariah's Christmas: The Magic Continues," debut this December. Following this magical moment, fans can watch Carey's star-studded, perennial smash-hit, "Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special," which continues to bring holiday cheer around the world. "Mariah's Christmas: The Magic Continues" is executive produced by Carey, along with Tim Case, Charleen Manca and Matthew Turke of Supply & Demand, and directed by Joseph Kahn, a world-renowned director of music videos and films ("Bodied Detention," "Torque"), and also servers as executive producer on this year's special. Carey has been named the "Queen of Christmas" as her #1 hit "All I Want for Christmas is You" makes its annual rounds on top of the Billboard charts every holiday season. The track is from her 1994 album "Merry Christmas." Last year, she released a new Christmas special on Apple TV, which featured a duet with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson.

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Elle King gets in the holiday spirit by releasing her version of the Christmas classic “Please Come Home For Christmas” via RCA Records/Columbia Nashville. Her signature swag and bluesy tone will put anyone in the mood for the holiday season. The holiday tune was written by blues pianist and singer Charles Brown and covered by The Eagles, Kelly Clarkson and Jon Bon Jovi; just last month, King and Miranda Lambert received a nomination for a CMA Award in the “Musical Even Of the Year” category for their hit single “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).” The show is Wednesday, November 10th on ABC. Their hit single “Drunk” came roaring out of the gate upon release and racked up over 150 million streams globally. In early March, the single debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard’s Rock Digital Sales Chart and the Country Digital Song Sales Chart. Additionally, King is the first female artist in history to have scored four radio No. 1 singles on different formats, including Adult Pop Songs, Adult Alternative Songs, Alternative Songs and Country Airplay charts. King co-wrote “Drunk” with Martin Johnson, who also produced the track, recorded in Nashville and New York pre-pandemic. This is the second time King collaborated with Lambert, having registered with their first release, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” along with Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes and Caylee Hammack.

Garbage has released a 20th-anniversary edition of their third studio album, Beautiful Garbage, initially released in October 2001. The album saw a slight departure for the band in terms of their sound and delivered four hit singles – ‘Androgny,’ ‘Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go),’ ‘Breaking Up The Girl," and "Shut Your Mouth." None of them got higher than number 20 in the UK singles chart, although their album "Version 2.0" had delivered three top ten hits in Britain. The band reissued the album as a three-CD deluxe edition (in a clamshell box) with a much more satisfying collection of bonus material when compared to the last two anniversary editions. The album itself is remastered, and CD 2 offers B-sides and alternate versions with six previously unreleased selections. CD 3 is concerned with remixes and also features a couple of previously unreleased mixes. There is an album-only 2LP set, one as black vinyl and one as white vinyl. The deluxe box set edition, similar to before, features a 3LP collection, with the bonus vinyl record featuring 10 B-sides. In addition, there’s a selection of replica memorabilia. Released three weeks after the September 11 attacks, the album suffered from lack of promotion and the failure of its lead single "Androgyny" to achieve high chart positions. "Beautiful Garbage" debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200.

Pop-rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hanson has released a rich and diverse group of songs that showcase the brothers’ range, musicianship and influences — ones that leave their monster sugar pop hit “MMMBop” far in the rearview mirror. The album kicks off with “Annalie,” with bright harmonies and guitar work reminiscent of Paul Simon. “Don’t Ever Change” has a rocking Cheap Trick sound, probably because Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick plays guitar. The rock-pop “Only Love” has an Eddie Vedder-like vocal that transforms from a dark, spare space into an arena singalong. The Hansons’ harmonies are glorious in the Queen-like “Stronger,” “One” is an excellent plea for unity, and the anthem “Fearless” leans on an orchestra as the brothers soar above strings. But the highlight is Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson on the title track. “We belong with the restless/Keep company with rebels and with dreamers,” they sing. “There’s equal scars from victory and failure.” If it’s them against the world, we’re on their side. "Against The World" was initially announced in May with the debut single and video, “Annalie.” Hanson proceeded to release one song and video per month through today, which sees the clip's release for "Fearless." After "Annalie," the band shared "Don't Ever Change" in June, "Only Love" in July, the title track "Against The World" in August, "Stronger" in September, and "One" in October.

Ingrid Michaelson has released her highly awaited holiday project titled "Ingrid Michaelson's Songs For The Season - Deluxe Edition." Initially released in October 2018, the record's new deluxe edition of her festive "Ingrid Michaelson's Songs For The Season" features five new tracks - including a previously released single, "Christmas Valentine" featuring Jason Mraz, that has since amassed over 45 million streams. "When I released my first Christmas album in 2018, I already knew there would one day be a deluxe. And here we are! Anyone who knows me knows that I start celebrating Christmas in September, and I cherish this time of the year so very much," Ingrid explains. "I have added three classics and two originals (one with another self-proclaimed Christmas lover Zooey Deschanel) to create an even greater joyful experience! It was essential to me to keep everything in this vintage/nostalgic world." Standout tracks on the vibrant collection include "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (Feat. Zooey Deschanel)," with the two beloved vocalists sharing their favourite things about the season and Andrews Sisters-inspired rendition of "Winter Wonderland," a dazzling retroversion. In addition, Tickets are on sale for Ingrid's 15th Annual Holiday Hop at New York City's Webster Hall. The EMMY Award-nominated and multi-platinum-certified New York singer/songwriter will take the stage Sunday, December 5th and perform tracks off of her album "Ingrid Michaelson's Songs For The Season - Deluxe Edition" along with other festive tunes.

Green Day has dropped a new single, "Holy Toledo!" featured in the rom-com movie "Mark, Mary & Some Other People," The film has also been scored by none other than Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump! and follows the release of their previous 2021 singles "Pollyanna" and "Here Comes The Shock." The record, released on December 10, compiles all of the band’s Maida Vale sessions from across their career: 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2001. Their first session was recorded on June 8, 1994, a few months after the band released their celebrated third album ‘Dookie’. The 16-track collection will be available in multiple physical formats, including CD and limited edition 2LP vinyl versions, a Sea Blue/Hot Pink edition exclusive to the band’s online website, and a Milky Clear version to be sold at indie record shops. Green Day also recently released the second part of a limited edition 7″ vinyl, which is available exclusively to subscribers to their coffee company, Oakland Coffee Works. Part one (which is pressed on platinum white vinyl) features live versions of the songs "2000 Light Years Away" and "She" from their 1994 BBC Radio 1 session, while the second part (pressed on ‘deep purple’ vinyl) features "Basket Case" and "When I Come Around." In related news, the band recently finished up the North American leg of their ‘Hella Mega Tour’ with Fall Out Boy and Weezer.

Sia is bringing on Christmas early with the deluxe edition of her popular holiday album, "Everyday Is Christmas." And indeed, we need as much holiday spirit as we can get after this dreadful year – which started with a violent Capitol insurrection and is winding down with the global COVID pandemic, so she is generously releasing a deluxe edition of the album fittingly titled "Everyday is Christmas (Snowman Deluxe Edition)," it adds three jolly new tracks. The latest version features three new songs: "Pin Drop," "Santa Visits Everyone," and there’s also the new TikTok-inspired ‘Snowman (Slowed Down and Snowed In Remix),’ an update of her beloved modern classic Christmas carol. The latter, of course, still features lyrics that we yet suspect might be coded with messages about climate change. “Snowman” was featured on the original "Everyday Is Christmas" album, released in 2017. The remix dropped in 2020 after the song took on a new life thanks to a TikTok trend where fans attempted to sing a verse in one breath. It is her first album with Atlantic; it features original songs co-written and produced by Greg Kurstin with the lead single, "Santa's Coming for Us," released in October 2017. "Everyday Is Christmas" cracked the top five on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart in 2017.

Silk Sonic, the super duo comprised of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak has just dropped the release of their brand new single, “Smokin’ Out The Window.” The new track marks the third single off their debut album, "An Evening With Silk Sonic," following “Skate” from July and “Leave the Door Open” from March. The pair teased the visual on social media but made sure to leave out the actual sound, making fans comment on how the two are always teasing them with releases. "An Evening With Silk Sonic" was initially scheduled to release in 2022 but was moved earlier to November 12, 2021. In a previous interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Mars and .Paak revealed that the Silk Sonic project began from a studio session in 2017. “It snowballed. And it was like, well, want to come back tomorrow? And we kept coming up with music. It felt like why you fell in love with music in the first place. And jamming with your buddy… There’s no plan, just working out the parts and trying to excite each other,” Mars said. The objective of this album was to provide some feel-good music following the bleak headlines that dominated through the pandemic and beyond. "A good song can bring people together — you don't have to actually sing the words 'Everybody come together.' Sometimes the hard thing is to actually do it. You don't have to say, 'Everybody raises your hands' — sometimes you just hit the right chord, and it happens," Mars told Rolling Stone. "So that was our mindset with the whole album."

It's instantly become clear which song will dominate the radio for the remainder of the year and likely well into next. Post Malone's has officially unveiled the rapper's synthy midtempo club single, and fans are already predicting that the record will be a sure-shot for #1 on the charts-- and a big reason why is because it's a collaboration with The Weeknd. No strangers to cranking out #1 hits like it's a sport, Post Malone and The Weeknd have released their new song "One Right Now." The new track is rumoured to appear on Post Malone’s upcoming fifth studio album, his first since 2019’s "Hollywood’s Bleeding." “I want to make an album that will uplift and show that people are not alone in their times of loneliness and worry and that at the end of the day, we all just need to show love to everyone on the planet and figure things out,” he told WSJ. Magazine last year. “So we’re working pretty hard, and I think we’re making some incredible stuff.” Both artists have been teasing new bodies of work for weeks. The Weeknd is presently working on his upcoming album "Dawn," and Post has been hinting at new music since the beginning of the quarantine. This will be the second single Post Malone has put out in 2021, following the July release of "Motley Crew." The Weeknd recently collaborated with EDM supergroup Swedish House Mafia on "Moth to a Flame," which charted at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Actress and singerLea Michele has released of her lullaby album, "Forever." : A Lullaby Album. Though she's known for her impressive singing voice, as showcased on her new lullaby album, "Forever," Lea Michele stayed quiet about her health struggles while pregnant with her son, Ever. The 35-year-old actress and singer opened up to about her private struggles as she and her husband, Zandy Reich, tried to conceive and then worked through her difficult pregnancy on her way to welcoming their son, who turned one in August. "I had a really intense pregnancy, I had a very intense journey of trying to get pregnant," Michele told ET. "We were pregnant during a pandemic dealing with those complications. And then my son was born, we were in quarantine for almost a year altogether with him, so it's been pretty wild. We're just now starting to get back into the swing of life again." The album features "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Here Comes the Sun", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Oh, What a World", "Yellow", "Songbird", "1000 Years", "Lullaby." Lea Michele is best known for her performance as "Rachel Berry" on the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe, Grammy, and SAG award-winning FOX television series Glee. She has been nominated for an Emmy, a SAG Award, and multiple Golden Globes. The GLEE Cast recordings have sold over 10 million singles and garnered over 20 top 40 US Billboard Hot 100 hits.

In pop culture, this time of year belongs to one woman and one woman only, and that is the Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey. It's hard to believe that "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was first released 27 years ago, and yet remains a festive classic. Now, Carey has a dropped a new holiday classic ballad, "Fall in Love at Christmas." The swooning track featuring Khalid and gospel icon Kirk Franklin got a surprise preview early Wednesday morning (Nov. 3) when MC dropped a 25-second taste of the tune. "I hope you like it, I'm obsessed with it," she said as the sound of the trio's voices intertwining over the swelling orchestration bled through in the background while Mariah busted out some of her signature mega-high notes. And, she noted, there's a reason to stick around for the end of the track. "Don't think it's over before you listen to the outro." "Fall in Love," will get its first and only performance on on Apple+ next month on Mariah's new holiday special, "Mariah's Christmas: The Magic Continues," on which the men will join in the cheer. It is, of course, also getting close to Mariah stepping into her favorite role: the world's biggest Christmas cheerleader. The star's perennially popular holiday hit, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" made its annual return to the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart back in November 2020, launching at No. 29 on its way to No. 1. Over nearly 27 years since its 1994 release.

U2 has returned with their first new song in three years: “Your Song Saved My Life,” from the soundtrack for the upcoming animated film "Sing 2;" Bono portrays a reclusive, rock & roll-singing lion named Clay Calloway in the sequel, out Dec. 22. “Your Song Saved My Life” plays during the end credits of, "Sing 2," director Garth Jennings told EW, adding, “It’s just full of so much emotion and heart… It just says, ‘OK, here’s how we want your audience to feel as they leave the cinema.” Fellow musicians Pharrell Williams, Halsey and Tori Kelly have roles in the Universal release, along with Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and Bobby Cannavale. The upbeat piano ballad — something you’d expect to hear on a soundtrack from a children’s movie about singing animals — was inspired in part by Bono’s list of “60 Songs That Saved My Life” that the U2 frontman wrote in 2020 to mark his 60th birthday. Although the new song doesn’t represent any vast jump in the genre, U2 fans will recognize it as a departure from the group’s usual style, starting off with a gospel-pop style piano and elevating into orchestral accompaniment before wrapping up with a falsetto chorus and not many guitars in sight. “Your Song Saved My Life” marks U2’s first new music as a band since their 2018 LP "Songs of Experience;" the band also collaborated with A.R. Rahman on the 2019 single “Ahimsa,” while Bono and the Edge appeared on Martin Garrix’s “We Are the People.”

Dorian Electra just announced that they will headline Noise Pop’s 2022 lineup, but that’s not all the hyper pop singer has in the works. Today, they’re releasing a deluxe edition of their 2020 album "My Agenda," which features 12 new remixes. To celebrate, Electra shared an eye-catching video to their album’s title track. True to the boundary-pushing artist’s brand, it is an eclectic mix of internet memes and subculture references. Like any good hyper pop video, Electra’s “My Agenda” video kicks off with a strobe light warning, which also lets viewers know they are in for a wild ride. In the visual, Electra is a dystopian city commander, urging citizens to “drink the water” to stay subjugated. But an alternate version of Electra, decked out in pride flags and backed by an army of furries, comes to the rescue. The deluxe edition includes remixes from Anamanaguchi, S3RL, d0llywood1, Alice Glass, Johann Sebastian Bach and ElyOtto, with additional features from Danny Brown, Kero Kero Bonito, The Joker and more. Adding a whopping 12 extra tracks to "My Agenda" original 11, the newly expanded version will also have a few new tracks such as "Crusader" and "Strapping Young Lads," as well as the Sega Bodega-produced "1 Pill 2 Pill," which first appeared on "Mutants Mixtape Vol.4." In addition to revealing the deluxe edition of "My Agenda," Electra has also announced a new world tour kicking off in 2022. Tickets are set to go on sale starting August 11th.

Lorde has released the deluxe version of her third studio album, "Solar Power," featuring two tracks previously unheard tracks. The New Zealand star explained that the two tracks in question, ‘Helen Of Troy’ and ‘Hold No Grudge,’ were the “black sheep” of the record. “These songs were fun explorations on the album journey,” she said in a newsletter to her fans. “They didn’t quite fit into the tracklist for whatever reason, but they’re both big tunes. “‘Helen Of Troy’ is just me talking trash to make Jack (Antonoff, the producer of Solar Power) laugh. We wrote it super quickly in the tiniest room at Westlake, where we did a bunch of (Melodrama), and it was fun the whole time. It’s super off the cuff lyrically, almost ad-libbed, and you can hear me starting to figure out some album themes — ‘So I took a happy face, and it’s coming on like a charm / I don’t wanna get lost, I wanna worship the sun / and if you want, you can come.” Lorde continued: “‘Hold No Grudge’ is a sort of composite portrait of when relationships turn sour, being trapped in the ice but remembering the warmth. The deluxe version isn’t the first alternative version of the album either. In September, she released "Te Ao Mārama," a companion to Solar Power which featured five songs from the album sung entirely in the red Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand (Aotearoa).

Grammy Award-winning, platinum-certified, international icon Tiësto has joined forces with pop powerhouse Ava Max on his new single "The Motto." The fast-paced dance banger will get everyone back on their feet as the world opens up and the party begins again! The song is the 3rd single from Tiësto's upcoming album on Atlantic Records. The song was released alongside a music video directed by Christian Breslauer and features both Tiësto and Ava Max's time travelling and partying in the 1920s. The music video made its broadcast premiere on MTV Live, MTVU and on the ViacomCBS Times Square billboard. "Ava is such an exciting young talent and her beautiful voice adds such depth to the song - I cannot wait for the world to hear our collaboration. 'The Motto' is the party anthem keeping us dancing into 2022 as we close out a crazy year!" says Tiësto. This new track follows the release of Tiësto's collaboration with multiplatinum superstar Karol G on "Don't Be Shy," which has garnered over 203 Million streams to date. Preceding "Don't Be Shy" was Tiësto's massive hit "The Business," which certified Platinum in the US and has garnered over 1.1 Billion streams to date. The song debuted in the top 10 in 10 countries upon release, reaching #1 on the US Dance Charts.

JORDY is light in pop music, the freshest face in pop with candy-like cotton tunes that find the power in vulnerability, JORDY is making his mark on the pop music scene. as he releases his debut album "Mind Games." Described by TIME Magazine as “conversational, sing-song style, over bright, undeniably joyful pop beats,” JORDY intertwines bouncy melodies with personal lyrics that make you feel as if you’re chatting with your best friend. Inspired by Julia Michaels and Avril Lavigne, JORDY originally realized that music was his calling after seeing the latter live in concert. Show business dominated his dreams, whether onstage or off: he relished performing in productions such as “Annie” and penned songs at summer camp, longing for the day when the music would be his life. “Clearly I loved [music] because I never stopped,” he says. Nowadays, you can find plenty of JORDY’s original work on TikTok. More than just the latest trend for teens, the social media platform has been instrumental in raising the profile of singer-songwriters such as himself. JORDY has been releasing a steady supply of pop hits and features. He has been taking over media, first as one of Radio Disney’s featured artists with the release of his song “Tomorrow feat. OSTON,” and most recently on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon where he participated in and won the Songwriter’s Challenge.

It has been a whirlwind few months for Little Mix and their fans, so it will be music to the ears of many to hear the girls are releasing their new album. The new track entitled ‘Between Us,’ which is also the name of the album, comes a decade after the trio found fame as then-four solo artists on ITV’s X factor. In the last year alone, It has been a while since Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirwall came back with new music following their former bandmate, Jesy Nelson's departure. Of course, fans are well ready to welcome "Between Us," which is coming on November 12. Since then, the girls caused a stir when Leigh-Anne cropped Jesy out of pictures of the band’s Madame Tussauds’ wax works when they were unveiled in July. The trio stated that top hits from the past decade would feature on the album alongside some new tracks without their former member Jesy. It will include 22 total tracks, with 18 of their previous hits and five brand new tracks. The girls became the most successful band in UK history in 2020, following their hit track "Sweet Melody." On "Between Us" Super Deluxe edition are their debut Official Singles Chart Number 1 Cannonball, which was their X Factor winner’s single, plus Top 40 hits "Change Your Life," "How Ya Doin," "Little Me," "Word Up," "Love Me Like You," "Secret Love" Song featuring Jason Derulo, "Only You," "Think About Us," "Bounce Back" and "Holiday.

Burgeoning pop star Tai Verdes, who broke through in a big way at radio and streaming with his hit “A-O-K,” brings the heat with his new song, "Let's Go to Hell." In the music video for the track, Tai and his girl heat things up at the country club and eventually burn them to the ground before they both burst into flames themselves. "This new music is the next era. Everything is HD. I've never sat on songs for so long...but I'm excited to get them out into the world," Tai says in a statement. "This project is a continuation of what I started with [my 2021 album] TV. Telling stories about my experiences. Giving my perspective. And singing about new topics. I can't wait to keep this thing moving forward." In addition to the new music, Tai also announced that he will be participating in a one-on-one conversation with "Variety" as part of the 2021 ASCAP Experience on November 17. He'll chat about finding success on TikTok and how it helped lay the foundation for him as an artist. The 26-year-old Verdes has attracted headlines like “Tai Verdes Is on Top of the World” (V magazine) and “Get Used to Seeing the Name Tai Verdes” (Stereogum). Among the parts of his, seemingly “overnight” success story Verdes will discuss are how he’s racked up two billion views on social media, and how “A-O-K” has accumulated more than 200 million streams globally, since becoming a TikTok phenomenon. Verdes will also talk about the more immediate and practical matters songwriter-artists face on the way to releasing music and getting to those numbers, like navigating publishing credits.