Album Review: Everyday Is Christmas - Sia

I've never been the biggest Sia fan. That's not to say I dislike her, I'll sing Chandelier in the shower like a normal person, but she was just never really on my radar.

All that changed on Nov 17th, 2017 with the release of Sia's premier Christmas album, Everyday Is Christmas. In doing so, she may have set the bar for all future pop-Christmas releases. Allow me to explain.

As we already know, there exists a canon of Christmas classics that have stood the test of time. Not surprisingly, then, most new albums feature a high percentage of cover songs. It's an almost guaranteed method of securing album sales and radio play. Sia and co-writer, Greg Kurstin, went a different route and produced an album entirely of original holiday songs. This is an incredibly rare and risky move for a pop Christmas album. Let's take a look at some figures.

In this graph we have the percentage of cover songs on the top holiday album from each of the last twenty years. Two things of note: 1) The average percentage is well above 50% and 2) There's some trend suggesting higher cover percentage yields higher album sales. Sia's original-only album is in unchartered territory.

I wholeheartedly believe Sia made the right decision. What typically separates the good from the bad Christmas albums (for any genre really) is the time and effort dedicated to the project. For many musicians, a Christmas album is an easy 8hr studio day of cover songs. For Sia, this was a passion project; her love of holiday music has shone through.

On to the music...

Everyday is Christmas has a little something for everyone. There are a few catchy bangers, some over-the-top holiday cheer, and a strong set of ballads. Here's a little breakdown:

• Catchy Hits
• Candy Cane Lane - A fun, traditional pop-Christmas feel.
• Ho Ho Ho - A "misfit" song reminiscent of something from The Grinch.
• Over The Top
• Santa's Coming For Us - Less creepy than the name would imply
• Puppies are Forever - a public service announcement disguised as a holiday song
• Ballads
• Everyday is Christmas - a Christmas power ballad
• Snowman - A poignant remark on the impermanence of love

Candy Cane Lane - Sia

With the relatively weak offerings in 2017, Sia didn't have to do much to set herself apart. Everyday is Christmas went above and beyond and will hopefully soon have the sales to prove it.

Will Sia's next venture into holiday music follow a more traditional cover-song style? It's too early to say. All I can say is, it's a shame we'll never hear a Frank Sinatra rendition of Puppies are Forever.