Music Review for SCAD District’s award winning online magazine

Hollaback Holiday

Gwen Stefani has remained consistently cool throughout her career without any dramatic reinventions. Let’s not forget that she’s the songstress heroine who brought us “Hollaback Girl” as an—expletive—'you’ to Courtney Love.  But with the same foreboding that the onslaught of holiday music brings to the season, I approached the making of her new Christmas album with some apprehension, in fear that Gwen had gone too cocoa and marshmallow too soon.

Fear not. The compilation is a mix of cool meets surprise, like waking up on Christmas morning to a puppy under the tree. Not without its candy cane sweetness, the key message is clear in her sound and her songs: Gwen is in love and has ‘no doubt’ been kissing Blake Shelton.

Her unique ska-punk roots remain strong in her vocals and combine with her country crooner boyfriend like a complex wine pairing on the title track, “You Make It Sound Like Christmas.” The song opens with a direct lift from the 1960’s Supremes, Motown hit, “Can’t Hurry Love.” Ladies in love the world over are going to have all of the relationship feels for this song. She holds her own on the transference of some of that country sound, and the result is a harmoniously dynamic song that makes you want to be twirled around the tree.

The twelve songs on the compilation are a mixture of new and old, along with a tribute cover of Wham’s "Last Christmas." It may be too soon since we lost George Michael, but I prefer his version. Gwen brings to it a very 50’s feel and instrumentation that remains fairly monotone throughout.  The slow tempo with a deep bass, repetitive drum beat, weigh the pop Christmas classic down with a reserved tension in her crooning, instead of opening it up with the bombastic flair she’s capable of.

On the traditional “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Baby”, Stefani’s punky, throaty edge swoons among cascading trumpets in the background, creating a cheery 50’s rock sound. “Jingle Bells” opens with classic rockabilly struts of drum, bass, and low baritone sax, and there is a repeated cascading trumpet motif over each interlude. This is a fantastic take on “Jingle Bells,” with a respectable balance of 50’s rock, R&B and Gwen’s easy breeze and immediately recognizable vocals. This eases the holiday music foreboding, and I want to hear it again. The romantic flirtation the album expresses pipe up with her vocals on Santa Baby, which fit the song well without being over sexualized or breathy.  Her familiar vocal stylings seamlessly roll in and out of a slick background arrangement, right in her vocal wheelhouse.

“My Gift Is You” is the albums musical darling, another up-tempo polyphonic mix of background vocals, and sweet harmonies that inspire you to sing out loud and think of your special someone. It’s a song you can listen to all year long, which is refreshing about the albums likable variety that you can add to this year’s holiday playlist, with a pleasing tolerance that holiday music tends to lack.

Blake remains the eleventh piper piping on track 11, “Never Kissed Anyone With Blue Eyes Before You.”  It drags slowly when compared to the others, and at this point, I’m a little intoxicated on Blake nog. But, the Hollaback girl remains true to her consonant vocals and appeal, and now she’s making being in love and Christmas music cool.  She plays to her strengths by leveraging her hit show, public relationship with country singer boyfriend, and that classic red lip which wraps this Christmas collection up in a matching red bow.