Spirited soundtrack, various artists (Republic)

Nobody ever lost money retinseling Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for a modern holiday, whether a straight dramatization of the original novella or an all-singing, all-dancing takeoff, whether animated or live action. Your friends at Apple TV+ went musical theatre for their 2022 version of the venerable story, featuring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer, and this album is the resulting soundtrack. As with any musical theatre production, the songs tend to be specific to the plot, but as anyone with any experience in the realm of popular music knows, the canon, holiday and otherwise, is filled to the brim with songs that originated on Broadway or in other musical theatre realms. The whole show is filled with fourth-wall-breaking snark, so feel free to let the "Glee" nerds in your immediate circle put this in your streaming queue and make notes as to which songs might fit your holiday playlists. "Bringin' Back Christmas" would pair nicely with your favorite Stan Freiberg tunes like "Green Christmas," and "That Christmas Morning Feeling" is mostly independent of the show's plot when heard in isolation. "The View From Here" is a nice ballad, though it's a little specific to the show, and "Do a Little Good" starts out like Oasis' "Wonderwall" and is generally nice, though a minor expletive near the beginning might spoil it for some. As it's a new production (of an old story), this will probably be a worthwhile diversion this year, certainly more so than yet another sequel to "A Christmas Story."