Merry Christmas, Love, Joss Stone (S-Curve)

Back in 2003, a teenaged Joss knocked the hipsters back on their heels with The Soul Sessions, a collection of 60s soul covers she nailed with a set of pipes that were widely considered mature for her age at that time. Unfortunately, she hasn't made any notable chart breakthroughs since then, which is a shame as she can still sing with any female vocalist you can name. Judging by this 2022 album, though, it appears she's gone full tilt old-school orchestral pop vocalist. The only thing that hearkens back to her original breakthrough album is a solid, if not exceptional, cover of Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means To Me." She contributes two ballad-style originals to this album, "Bring On Christmas Day" and "If You Believe," which show off her soul-singing chops a little bit. All the rest are classic pop carols and hymns, starting with a few lines of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" leading into "Let It Snow," "Winter Wonderland, "Jingle Bells," "Away in a Manger," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "White Christmas," "In the Bleak Midwinter," and "Silent Night." Folks who like the standards will be happy with this, but Mistletunes regulars might want to pass this by.