Londoner Leona is a bonafide international star as a result of winning her home country's version of "The X Factor" in 2006 and going on to a string of Brit award/Grammy award winning songs and albums. I tend to steer clear of talent show denizens, particularly "American Idol," especially when the ever-present Simon Cowell is involved, but I have to say I'm not particularly horrified by the results on offer here. Leona's singing does evince a certain hero worship of the late Whitney Houston, the production is assembly-line modern pop, and there aren't any real surprises among the cover songs, but she manages to put some personality into the proceedings nonetheless. Points for using the Otis Redding arrangement of "White Christmas," and perhaps because I'm not English I never get tired of hearing Roy Wood's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday," which kicks off with a bit of emoting before heading into a Wizzard-faithful arrangement. She also does spot-on Spector takes of "Winter Wonderland" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Album closers "Ave Maria" and "Silent Night" are a little too reverent for my taste, however, the typical pop album's sincerity while showing off the singer's chops move. Leona co-writes three tunes for this collection, the sprightly album opener "One More Sleep," in which the singer is dreaming of her lover coming home for Christmas, "Mr. Right," an uptempo request for a two-legged Christmas present, and the churchy ballad "Your Hallelujah." Not really a classic, but I'm liking this in spite of myself.
Leave a comment