When Christmas Comes Around…

When Christmas Comes Around... is the ninth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on October 15, 2021, through Atlantic Records. Produced by Jesse Shatkin, Jason Halbert, Joseph Trapanese and Aben Eubanks, it is her second Christmas album after Wrapped in Red (2013) and a follow-up to her eighth studio album Meaning of Life (2017). Featuring cover versions of Christmas songs, as well as original co-penned tracks and duets with Chris Stapleton, Ariana Grande and Brett Eldredge, its release was preceded by the singles "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)" and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me". It also includes previously released singles "Christmas Eve", "All I Want for Christmas Is You", and "Under the Mistletoe" as bonus tracks. The album was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Promotion for the album included a Christmas special of the same title, which premiered on NBC on December 1, 2021. The Christmas special premiered with a 0.6 rating and 4.3 million total viewers.
Background and recording
"My purpose for choosing this lyric as the title of this project was to bring forth a sense of reality to the fact that we are probably in very different places emotionally When Christmas Comes Around... Some of us are consumed with a new love, some of us reminded of loss, some filled with optimism for the coming new year, others elated for some much deserved time away from the chaos our work lives can sometimes bring us. Wherever you are, and whatever you may be experiencing, I wanted everyone to be able to connect to a message on this album. Each year you may even have a new favorite depending on where you are in your life, but while change can be unpredictable there is no better time of year, in my opinion, to breathe hope into one’s life and let possibility wander."
—Clarkson on naming the album When Christmas Comes Around...
Following the release of her first Christmas album Wrapped in Red in 2013 on RCA Records, Clarkson transferred to Atlantic Records and has issued the Christmas tracks "Christmas Eve" (2017), "Under the Mistletoe" (with Brett Eldredge), and a cover of Vince Vance & the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (2020). In an interview on the television program Entertainment Tonight, she revealed that she was not originally intending to record another Christmas studio album due to her fondness for her first, but later decided to following the emotional stress induced by the highly publicized divorce the previous year. In recording the album, Clarkson recorded cover versions of various Christmas classics and wrote new material featuring duets with American recording artists Chris Stapleton and Ariana Grande.
Themes and inspirations
Atlantic Records has promoted When Christmas Comes Around... as an exploration of "a wide range of holiday emotions and experiences anchored by Clarkson's incomparable vocal prowess". Clarkson has elaborated that the album will explore various themes of love, loss, hope, and optimism — emotions that people tend to experience during the holiday season.
Drawing inspiration from her experiences during the past two years, she remarked of the album's title, her first to not have a titular track since My December (2007), as "when Christmas comes around, we are all in different places." Further adding that its selection of tracks will both evoke a somber and posit a jolly atmosphere. Characterizing it as "a different Christmas album", she portrayed When Christmas Comes Around... as feeling more like a normal studio album, but "there's Christmas sprinkled on it."
Release
When Christmas Comes Around... was released by Atlantic Records on October 15, 2021. A special edition shipped exclusively to Target retail stores would also feature a Christmas card signed by Clarkson. Its lead single "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)", was released on September 23, 2021. "Glow" with Stapleton and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" with Grande were released as promotional singles alongside the album's release.