The Christmas Album
HN Entertainment, 2015
http://www.humannaturelive.com
REVIEW BY: Tom Haugen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/19/2015
Though at their inception in 1989 they were a doo-wop outfit called 4 Trax, it wasn't until nearly a decade later that the quartet became sensations as Human Nature and was incorporating Motown and pop into their vocal harmonizing. In their homeland of Australia, Human Nature is a household name with multiple platinum selling albums and significant time on the charts. In the United States, they haven't exactly made the same dent, though with high profile residencies (including a year stint on the strip in Vegas) following their first trip to the States in 2008 and a couple themed albums that came after, they're working their way into world wide fame.
Human Nature's eleventh studio album continues on with concepts, this time covering 14 Christmas songs in their own vision. In addition to their own vocal prowess, they brought in Australia's Jessica Mauboy and the always-impressive Smokey Robinson to help out.
One of the strengths of this album is that despite the same theme behind each song, musically Human Nature brings a lot of sounds from different eras. Another bright spot here is the song choice, which mixes standard holiday songs with more obscure selections. While the familiar "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is a cappella, the lesser-known "Christmas Without You" brings saxophones into the equation. Similarly, the staple "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" is a barbershop influenced tune with horns, while the less visible "Christmas (Baby Come Home)" is retro, oldies fun.
The vocal contributions here are on two of the best songs. Smokey Robinson joins in on a blues duet to make "Please Come Home For Christmas" a disc highlight, while Robin Meade's playful pipes keep an upbeat vibe present on "Sleigh Ride."
If you aren't a fan of Christmas albums, this probably won't change your mind on the subject. However, if you are, Human Nature does what they do best here by adding nostalgic nods with extremely harmonic singing and even more joyous feeling to an already splendid time of the year.