Carols Covered 2022

Carols Covered 2022

Every year around the holidays, the most fortunate of families get together and eat, drink, and be merry. But what would these gatherings be without the proper tunes? Luckily for you, Apple Music is not interested in having you find out. Just like last year, our 2022 Carols Covered collection features a fresh crop of Christmas and holiday songs reimagined by some of contemporary music’s most impactful artists, all available in immersive Spatial Audio. While previous Carols Covered collections have featured contributions from names like James Blake, Ari Lennox, Ozuna, and Tate McRae, this year’s batch includes selections from Amelia Moore, Brett Eldredge, Muni Long, and Ellie Goulding, among plenty of others. Take it from us: You don’t want to get caught trotting out the same old Bing Crosby joints everyone already has seared into their brains. Throw on the Carols Covered playlist and be the hero of your holiday gatherings, and read along as the artists talk about the songs they selected. Amelia Moore, “This Christmas” “‘This Christmas’ is just so iconic,” singer-songwriter Amelia Moore tells Apple Music. “It’s one of those OG classic Christmas bangers. So many other iconic artists and vocalists that I look up to have done their own versions of this song as well, so I wanted to challenge myself to make my own. I want to give a little shout-out to my producers Pink Slip and Dwelly for working on this song with me. I’m really, really, really proud of the way that it turned out.” ELIO, “My Favorite Things” “I wanted to cover ‘My Favorite Things’ because I just grew up watching The Sound of Music every single year, probably multiple times a year,” Canadian singer ELIO tells Apple Music. “I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up, and me and my grandma just loved musicals like The Sound of Music and Grease. The song and the movie have always been really close to my heart.” Brett Eldredge, “Feels Like Christmas (Unwrapped)” “‘Feels Like Christmas’ is such a soulful, feel-good, groovy song that has this kind of sexy feel to it,” country singer Brett Eldredge tells Apple Music. “The big-band version is amazing and so special, but I thought it’d be cool to kind of have a more stripped-down version that's intimate and makes you want to just cuddle up or dance next to the fireplace or by the tree. I wrote this song back during the pandemic, when I couldn’t even leave my house, and it took a while to write it. But I’m so proud of this song, and I can’t wait to sing this song for many, many years to come.” SiR, “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” “The first time I heard ‘The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You),’ it was the Nat ‘King’ Cole version, and I was just floored because it was so beautifully arranged, and it’s so simple,” Inglewood singer SiR tells Apple Music. “I learned it when I was really young, and I felt like it would be the perfect cover because I know it so well.” Muni Long, “Santa Baby” “The original version of ‘Santa Baby,’ or the version that I really enjoy, is the version by Eartha Kitt,” singer Muni Long tells Apple Music. “It’s super sexy and feminine, which is what I tried to give in my version. And it definitely is reminiscent of who I am as an artist because all of my music is about love and relationships, and although this relationship is a little unconventional, it’s giving its own little version of PDA under the Christmas tree.” Jvck James, “Joyful Joyful” “‘Joyful, Joyful’ is one of those songs that bring me back to that time watching a young legend, Lauryn Hill, follow her heart's desire despite all of the odds against her,” Jvck James tells Apple Music. “From a young age, I remember watching Sister Act, the movie, on them old little video players we used to have back in the day. Playing the movie became a ritual in my household, especially around Christmastime, and singing gospel music at Christmas was our way of celebrating the life of Jesus.” Shygirl, “When You Wish Upon a Star” “Music plays a really big role for me at Christmas,” South London singer-songwriter and DJ Shygirl tells Apple Music. “It definitely gets me in the holiday mood as soon as I start hearing, like, George Michael or Mariah Carey.” For her contribution to this season’s specially curated selection of holiday songs reimagined, Shygirl went all the way back to 1940, opting to cover “When You Wish Upon a Star,” a song Leigh Harline and Ned Washington wrote for the original Disney version of Pinocchio. spill tab, “White Winter Hymnal” “The main thing that really drew me to ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was the melody, because it’s so beautiful,” French Korean American singer-songwriter spill tab tells Apple Music. “The way that it builds and ascends and has a lot of repetitive circular nursery school-type rounds to it is really pretty. Also, just in general, the textural quality of the original recording that Fleet Foxes made is just so interesting.” glaive, “last christmas” “‘Last Christmas’ is one of my mom’s favorite Christmas songs,” Florida-hailing singer and MC glaive tells Apple Music. “A memory I have is my mom—during Christmastime—she wanted me to learn how to sing it, and I was probably like eight, and I had never heard the song before in my life. So, I sat down, and I learned all the words, and then I messed it up in front of my whole family, and I got really red and embarrassed. It was kind of awkward, looking back.” Yahritza Y Su Esencia, “Amarga Navidad” “We chose to cover ‘Amarga Navidad’ ’cause a lot of people can relate to being heartbroken through the holidays,” Yahritza Y Su Esencia guitarist Armando Martinez tells Apple Music. Lead singer Yahritza adds, “We just wanted to cover this song because it has a lot of feeling to it.” charlieonnafriday, “Hallelujah” “‘Hallelujah’ felt much different than most of the other Christmas songs we hear every year during the holiday season,” Seattle’s charlieonnafriday tells Apple Music. “The song pulls on people’s emotions and triggers sentimental feelings, and I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing with some of my new music. ‘Hallelujah’ is also a very celebratory anthem, and I feel like I tend to create songs that render feelings of celebration.” Emilio, “Wonderful Christmastime” “We decided to give ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ a kind of gospel-y vibe and recording in Spatial Audio really brought that to life because it actually sounds like you’re listening to live music, like the music is happening around you,” Berlin-born Emilio tells Apple Music. “Music plays a big role in my holiday experience, especially now that I’m moved away from my home city. It’s a long drive to get home to my family and friends, so [I’m playing] a lot of Christmas music in the car to get in the mood.” King Stingray, “Run Rudolph Run” “‘Run Rudolph Run’ by Chuck Berry is such a raw rock ’n’ roll tune where we just love the vibe of the recording,” King Stingray’s Roy Kellaway tells Apple Music. “I love his guitar tones and that sort of surfiness of it—it being so twangy and woody and vintage sounding. So, it felt like a song that I thought we could make something cool with and make a Yonga surf-rock Christmas song.” Nomfundo Moh, “Little Drummer Boy” “‘Little Drummer Boy’ is just that one Christmas carol that reminds me of my childhood,” South African singer Nomfundo Moh tells Apple Music. “The ba ra pa ba pum—it’s just that one line I constantly sang since I couldn’t pronounce the other words back then. Recording this song in Spatial Audio brought it more life. It actually made me understand that the song is mainly about that it does not matter how much you have or what you have, but if you are willing to give that for the sake of celebrating other people, let that be.” Alicia Moffet, “Winter Wonderland” “I really wanted to cover ‘Winter Wonderland’ because I feel like it’s such a classic Christmas song that everyone knows,” Canadian singer Alicia Moffet tells Apple Music. “What I like [to do with] classic songs that everyone knows is to completely transform the song, so you almost don’t recognize it anymore. It just gives it a second life.”

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