''Christmas with Brandy'' is the eighth studio album by American singer

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist ...

. It was released on November 10, 2023, through her own label Brand Nu, Inc. and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. A follow-up to her 2020 album '' B7'', it marked her first

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...

as well as her debut release with Motown. Chiefly produced by

Theron "Neff-U" Feemster Theron Otis Feemster, also known by the names Ron Feemster or Neff-U, is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Life and career Feemster was born and raised in Grover, North Carolina, where his family was very acti ...

," with additional production from

DJ Camper Darhyl “DJ” Camper (born May 25, 1990), also known by his stage name Camper, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer. Career Camper was born May 25, 1990, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of six, he began playing ...

, Kyle Mann, and

Nasri Atweh Nasri Tony Atweh (, born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Nasri, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He serves as lead vocalist and songwriter for the reggae fusion band Magic!, which he formed in 2012 with fellow Tor ...

and

Adam Messinger Adam "Messy" Messinger is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-born record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. He is a producer for Canadian reggae band Magic!, but was initially a producer/songwriter as a ...

from The Messengers, ''Christmas with Brandy'' consists of twelve tracks, featuring six original songs co-penned by Norwood and six cover versions of Christmas standards songs. The album earned largely positive reviews from music critics who called it a delightful edition to modern Christmas music. Upon its release, ''Christmas with Brandy'' debuted at number 29 on the Billboard US

Top Holiday Albums Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine only Record chart, charted Christmas Single (music), singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday Phonograph record, records until the 1958 Christmas and holiday season, holiday season w ...

and reached number 50 on ''

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''s

Current Album Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. Its release date coincided with the release of the

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Christmas comedy film ''

Best. Christmas. Ever! ''Best. Christmas. Ever!'' is a 2023 American Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Mary Lambert and written by Todd Gallicano and Charles Shyer (his final credit before his passing in 2024). The film stars Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, ...

'', which Norwood had filmed alongside

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

Jason Biggs Jason Matthew Biggs (born May 12, 1978) is an American actor. The accolades he has received include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, alongside nominations for a Daytime Emmy Awards, Daytime Emmy Award and a Satellite Award ...

, and

Matt Cedeño Matt Cedeño (born November 14, 1973)"POP CULTURE". ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 5, 2013. p. 65. is an American actor and former fashion model, known for his roles as Brandon Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1999– ...

. The album was preceded by R&B ballad "Christmas Party for Two," the album's lead single, released on November 3, 2023.

Background and release

In March 2022, ''

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'' reported that Norwood had signed on to star opposite

, and

in the

film ''

''. Co-written by

Charles Shyer Charles Richard Shyer (October 11, 1941 – December 27, 2024) was an American filmmaker. Shyer's films are mainly comedies, often with a romcom overtone. His writing-directing credits include '' Private Benjamin'' (1980), ''Irreconcilable Dif ...

and directed by Mary Lambert, the Christmas comedy deals with two frenemies stuck together for Christmas. In June 2022, Norwood signed with

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. The partnership marked her first major label deal in over a decade. In September 2023, Motown A&R executive Jaha Johnson revealed that Norwood was working on a

whose release date would coincide with the release of ''Best. Christmas. Ever!''. On October 20, 2023, Norwood announced that the album would be released on November 10, 2023, writing: "I feel so blessed to be able to create an album surrounding joy, Family, love and quality divine time with the ones you love." In an interview with ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', Norwood stated that even though ''Christmas with Brandy'' is the artist's eighth studio album, " is isn’t the ''B8'' album, no ..this is just my contribution to Christmas and how much Christmas means to me and that’s all it is .. I’m not going to stop doing music, but I would love to get into some new records in the future. But I just want to really get this out here and see how people feel about this record first." First called ''A Brandy Christmas'', the album was renamed late into the production, with Norwood commenting: "Different people on your team have opinions and you try to make sure everybody's opinion gets in there. We had a toss-up between ''A Brandy Christmas'' and ''Christmas with Brandy''. I like ''Christmas with Brandy''. It has a ring to it."

Singles

''Christmas with Brandy''s first single "Christmas Party for Two" was released on November 3, 2023, along with a snippet of Norwood's rendition of the

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

classic "

Someday at Christmas ''Someday at Christmas'' is the eighth studio album by Stevie Wonder, first released on November 27, 1967 by Motown Records under its Tamla imprint. Produced by Henry Cosby, it marked Wonder's first Christmas album. ''Someday at Christmas'' ...

." A

lyric video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of m ...

for "Christmas Party for Two" was released the same day, followed by a lyric video for "Christmas Everyday," issued on November 17, 2023. A

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

music video for "Christmas Party for Two," directed by William Sikora, was released on December 5, 2023.

Critical reception

Antwane Folk, reviewing for ''

Rated R&B ''Rated R&B'' is an independent online magazine based in the United States, which is dedicated and devoted to news, topics and almost all things related to rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, ...

'', praised the album as "a delightful change of pace that provides comfort and joy during the holiday season now and for several years to come." He found that Norwood's "assured imagination and warm vocals take center stage to reveal a deeper musical personality." ''

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'' critic Aarik Danielsen found that "on the first holiday record of her 30-year career, Brandy leans into the string- and keyboard-driven R&B she has practically perfected. Nimbly mingling heartbroken holiday-set ballads and standards, Brandy offers that rarest of Christmas-music gifts — an album that sounds exactly like an artist being themselves." ''Cryptic Rock'' called that ''Christmas with Brandy'' "a delightful edition to modern Christmas music" and described it as "a rather smooth R&B Christmas tingling collection ..done with passion, love, and a sincere sense of Christmas spirit." The website's editorial staff noted that "it would not be out of place to spin some of these original songs before or after the Christmas season either." ''Soul Bounce''s Suzy Sonshyn remarked that "our wish has finally been fulfilled with ''Christmas with Brandy'', which is an R&B gift that will keep on giving." She felt that "while Brandy’s new entries to the catalog of Christmas music are top-notch, we are also smitten with her spin on some of our favorite carols and classics

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listeners will be drawn to."

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editor Maria Sherman ranked the album among the best holiday released of 2023 and wrote: "For those looking for a seductive holiday album: the search is over. R&B great Brandy has released ''Christmas with Brandy'', a collection of sultry – and in other moments, soulful – imaginations of Christmas classics and originals." ''Riff'' magazine's Sery Morales felt that the album "showcases Brandy’s signature style of warm soulful vocals, as well as a willingness to experiment" and "successfully infuses her soulful singing into both original and classic holiday tracks." Jim Harrington, writing for ''

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'', called ''Christmas with Brandy'' a "worthwhile experience for fans of smooth R&B/pop. It’s a nice enough collection of holiday tunes, ranging from a somewhat forgettable lead single ..to enjoyable covers." Similarly, ''

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'' critic Alan Sculley noted that "the original material (including the sexy, silky ballad "Christmas Party for Two" and the bouncy "Christmas Gift") makes ''Christmas with Brandy'' an album worth noticing."

Commercial performance

''Christmas with Brandy'' debuted at number 29 on the US

in the week dated November 25, 2023. It also reached number 50 on ''Billboard''s

chart.

Track listing

Notes * signifies additional producer(s) * signifies associate producer(s)

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Album chart usages for BillboardHoliday 2023 Christmas albums Brandy Norwood albums Christmas albums by American artists Motown albums Motown Records Christmas albums