You Make It Feel Like Christmas, Gwen Stefani (Interscope)

Seems like forever since No Doubt covered the Vandals' punk holiday tune "Oi to the World" for A Very Special Christmas 3. Since then, their singer Gwen Stefani has become a household word as a solo artist and "judge" on "The Voice," not to mention girlfriend to country crooner Blake Shelton. Accordingly, her first full Christmas album, out for 2017, is aimed directly at the heart of the network TV audience, and not so much at us insufferable music snobs, as noted in an Entertainment Weekly story, in which she expresses the desire "to be Mariah Carey." Which brings us to the title song of the collection, a duet with Shelton, nicely upbeat but definitely designed to be played outside the window of the "Today Show" studio. It's one of six originals made for this album, of which my favorite is "My Gift Is You," which sounds modern and 60s girl-groupy at the same time. "Under the Christmas Lights" has some of that sound too, "Never Kissed Anybody With Blue Eyes Before You" is more mid-tempo, and "When I Was a Little Girl" and disc-closer "Christmas Eve" are ballads. Of the covers, "Jingle Bells" borrows a bit from Brian Setzer, "Silent Night" has a nice slow rock tempo to it, "White Christmas" gets a lively arrangement, "Santa Baby" and "Last Christmas" are about what you'd expect, and"Let It Snow" is essentially the song cut from the "Today Show" appearance and put up on the website. Not exactly a must-have for rock fans, but I encourage grazing the cuts online or on your streaming service.