A holiday album curated by Richard Carpenter, Christmas Once More features 16 songs newly remixed and remastered, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The vocally harmonic “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” starts the listen with Karen Carpenter’s soaring voice being particularly inviting, before the bright and rich gloriousness that is “Happy Holidays” arrives.

Further into the first side, the powerful and elegant “The Christmas Waltz” can be enjoyed anytime of the year, while the playful “Sleigh Ride” pairs the elegant strings with expressive singing that gets quite energetic. Closer to end of the first half, the stirring “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” showcases Karen’s flawless pipes, and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” exits Side A with precise bass, rich strings and intimate singing that’s cozy and welcomes plenty of animated sax.

Side B leads with the smooth and dreamy “Merry Christmas, Darling (R.P.O. Version),” and not too far behind is the cinematic, orchestral “(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays,” where plenty of backing vocals and frisky drums won’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Residing closer to the end, the meticulous keys of “My Favorite Things” illuminate the melodic and colorful album highlight, and “Ave Maria” exits with a more minimal selection that allows for Karen to highlight every note via her unparalleled singing.

The Carpenters released their first seasonal album in 1978, and Peter Knight’s vision with the strings here truly does keep their timeless tradition alive, where prayer, hymns, carols and standards are met with Karen’s unmistakable delivery. The collection is available on CD, black vinyl, limited-edition gold vinyl and digitally, and it ranks up there with Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Bessie Smith as Christmas songs everyone who celebrates should be intimately familiar with.

Rating: B+

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