Over the last few years, Paul Kelly fans have been gifted music from the iconic Australian artist, generally in the form of his How To Make Gravy tour. This year, Paul’s doing things differently, instead announcing the release of his first Christmas album, Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train.
The record, released on November 19, is an expansive one: a sprawling 22-track effort that traverses language and cultural significance. Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train features the standards people will recognise, but will also some other cuts that will surprise and endear.
From a Latin hymn to a traditional Irish folk ballad, and a well-known carol sung in te reo Maori, the album is more than your usual holiday record. For the project, Kelly called on a stunning group of friends and fellow artists to lend their unique voices and flavour.
Featuring the likes of Marlon Williams, Kasey Chambers, Lior, Kate Miller-Heidke, Emma Donovan and longtime collaborators Vika & Linda Bull, Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train is an album that has been meticulously crafted from the jump.
The official album trailer delves into things deeper, with Paul taking us through the genesis of the record.
“I’ve always been interested in Christmas songs and the variety of them,” Kelly says in a statement.
“There is a double-edged sword to Christmas music because every year it is everywhere, pumped to you in supermarkets and malls. There is a lot of schlock but on the other hand there are so many great Christmas songs and so much to explore. I’ve chosen songs I love, which led me often to wander off the well-worn path, then chosen singers I thought best suited to them.”
Watch album trailer for Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train below.
Check out the full track listing below.
Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train
- Nativity
- Silent Night (with Alice Keath & Sime Nugent)
- Swing Around The Sun
- Christmas
- Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) (with Linda Bull)
- Little Drummer Boy
- Arthur McBride
- The Virgin Mary Had One Son (with Emma Donovan)
- Tapu te Pō (O Holy Night) (with Marlon Williams & Dhungala Children’s Choir)
- Shalom Aleichem (with Lior, Alice Keath, Emily Lubitz)
- The Oxen
- The Friend Beasts (with Kasey Chambers & Dan Kelly)
- Three Drovers (with Alice Keath & Sime Nugent)
- Christmas Must Be Tonight
- Surah Maryam (with Waleed Aly)
- Coventry Carol (with Kate Miller-Heidke, Jess Hitchcock, Alice Keath & Marlon Williams)
- In The Hot Of A Christmas Day
- How To Make Gravy
- Christmas Train (with Vika Bull)
- Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
- Intonent Hodie (with Alice Keath)
- What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (with Alma Zygier)
