Album Review: Sipping on Hot Cocoa with Idina Menzel’s 'Christmas: A Season of Love'

Move aside, Michael Buble. There’s a new Christmas Queen in town.

Written by Kaci Pelias

Image courtesy of Playbill

Idina Menzel is back to the Christmas music game, and she’s not playing around. Her new album follows in the footsteps of her 2014 album Holiday Wishes, Menzel’s first endeavor into the holiday-themed music world. With songs like “River” and “Do You Hear What I Hear,” Holiday Wishes gave us tender strings and songs of longing, with the occasional light jazz drum brushing.

If Holiday Wishes is “Driving-Home-From-Christmas-Eve-Mass,” Christmas: A Season of Love is “Drinking-A-Peppermint-Mocha-In-Macy’s.” Menzel flexes her show-tune muscles for a celebration of big band and play, creating an emotional narrative through her setlist, which, yes, includes a holiday edit of Rent’s “Seasons of Love.”

Menzel’s opening covers, “Sleigh Ride” and “Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” begin with jingle bells shaking lightly, leading into brass-led renditions of these joy-filled classics. Backed with a chorus, Menzel’s Broadway-background belt soars to a place that most of us could only dream of going.

Billy Porter enters the scene with “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” Porter reminds all of us that, he also got his start on Broadway. This song is a standout in a collection of gems — Porter and Menzel playfully toss musical phrases between each other, weave together notes as if they were Christmas quilt fibers, and improvise spoken banter. Porter jokingly tells Menzel that she’s hurting his feelings by leaving her coat on, and Menzel laughs. Even her laugh sounds like jingle bells. 

The next duet, “We Wish You the Merriest,” brings in Menzel’s “Frozen” co-star Josh Gad — yes, the snowman from the Disney movie that won’t seem to go away. The song is all about merriment and cheer, and the two seem like they’re having a lot of fun, following one of the central themes of this album: playfulness. At the bridge, Gad remarks that the two of them are like “Barbara and Bette… Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney… Or Elsa, and Olaf.” Unless you’re under twelve or very earnest, Gad’s inflection on that last phrase might turn your heart to coal. He references “Frozen” like he knows it’s all he has left, like he knows that he signed his life away with that first contract, doomed forever to embody a living and breathing snowman who likes warm hugs. He likes hugs! We get it! At least this song runs on the shorter side. 

Transitioning from the Josh Gad debacle onto better things, the album presents us with Mendel’s duet with Ariana Grande, another rising Christmas queen. “A Hand for Mrs. Claus” is perfect for the new era of Christmas media that places emphasis on the long-forgotten women of Christmas (take, for example, the new Disney movie “Noelle”). An original by musical songwriting legends Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the Oscar-winning couple behind the original songs for “Frozen,” this song pays tribute to “the gal who runs the show”: Mrs. Claus. It might be a surface-level feminist anthem (should celebrating Mrs. Claus really be a priority for us right now?) but oh, by gosh, by golly, it sure is catchy.

Menzel brings it back to a few more Christmas classics, starting with “We Need a Little Christmas,” followed by a beautifully arranged rendition of “O Holy Night” and “Ave Maria.” The latter track is one of only a few true solos on the album, and Menzel’s vocals soar, backed only by a traditional orchestral arrangement. She slips a few other equally-satisfying covers later in the album, including “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Caroling, Caroling,” and a soft rendition of “Christmas Time is Here” that would be great to play while you sneak a kiss from a loved one. These songs are Christmas album staples, especially for an artist that skews towards the jazzy side of the holiday soundscape. They are the dependable side dishes — mashed potatoes and green beans made to bring out the rich flavors of the Tofurky in the middle of the table. The Tofurky is “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” with Billy Porter, of course.

The next few tracks celebrate Menzel’s Jewish heritage. Titled “Walker’s Third Hanukkah,” the first track is a low-fi duet between Menzel and her son that melts even the coldest heart. Following this is the Ladino song “Ocho Kandelikas,” or “Eight Candles.” Translating this song from its Judeo-Spanish roots reveals a happy tune about all of the exciting things about Hanukkah (pastries, candles, parties, etc). Maybe there’s a Hanukkah album in Menzel’s future… we can only dream!

Menzel then delivers a song of love and acceptance with “At This Table,” another original. She invites you to her holiday feast table, granting you permission to “come as you are” and “speak your mind.” It’s quite a tearjerker, even if it does seem like the musical manifestation of churches that try just a little too hard to be good ‘allies.’

The song leads into the album’s namesake. Initially, it might sound like Menzel’s addition of “Seasons of Love” was edited to sound more ‘Christmas-y.’ But no, it’s just a straight cover “Seasons of Love” from Rent, and it fits in beautifully with the messages of love and friends and family that dictate the album. The album ends with “Auld Lang Syne,” a song that Menzel refers to as underappreciated in her introduction to the song. With “Auld Lang Syne,” we reach the end of a season filled with happiness, sorrow, love, and peace. We fell in love, celebrated the holidays, and gave a toast to our feminist idol, Mrs. Claus. Let Idina Menzel guide you during your department-store shopping, invite her along to your horse-drawn-carriage dates, and allow her to accompany your hot chocolate-fueled winter endeavors.