It’s officially time to deck the halls, as the nation’s favorite pop princesses, Girls out loudserving up a dazzling dose of nostalgia (and plenty of glitter) with the long-awaited reissue of their festive mini-album “Christmas tour with us” — this time as a full-fledged stand-alone record.
Originally tucked away as a bonus disc with their 2005 album ‘Chemistry’the sparkling holiday collection has become a fan favorite over the years — packed with classic covers, sassy charm and the unmistakable Xenomania pop magic!
Now, twenty years later, it’s finally getting the star treatment it deserves, complete with a remaster, a brand new remix (‘Not Tonight Santa – Christmas Party Mix’), and even a wonderful one red vinyl edition which is almost guaranteed to match your Christmas decor.
The album’s tracklist can only be described as a stocking full of pop candy: “Merry Christmas Everyone”, “I wish every day could be Christmas”and the delightfully flirtatious original “Not tonight Santa”.
To make things even more fun, the reissue comes with unseen photos, updated sleeve notes, and the delightfully kitschy 1950s-inspired artwork that made the original such a cult favorite.
The album’s focus track “Not tonight Santa” will be accompanied by an adorable festive video featuring previously unseen footage of all five girls from the Girls Aloud Christmas archive.
Looking back at the origins of the album’s conception, each of the girls reflects in their own way, saying…
“Just as we were putting the finishing touches on what would become ours ‘Chemistry’ album, our producer Brian Higgins had a last minute wild card. Since the album was scheduled for release in December, how about we record some Christmas bonus tracks? Our label loved the idea but went one step further and suggested we record a full Christmas album that could be packaged with the main album as a strictly limited edition deluxe format.” — Kimberley
“We decided to record 4 classic Christmas covers – and the Xenomania team would write 4 brand new original Girls Aloud Christmas songs. There was only one issue – time. We had a week to write the remaining new songs and record everything. Everyone went into festive overdrive. While we were recording the Christmas covers in the Xenomania studio (we chose “Jingle Bell Rock” because it was in the movie Mean Girls), Miranda Cooper and Lisa Cowling spent a weekend in Devon writing lyrics for the four brand new Christmas songs.” — Nicholas
“The new songs were all very kitschy and sometimes ridiculous. The album was always meant to be called “Christmas tour with us” – that’s why the Christmas TV commercial had a theme “Home with Girls Aloud”but it was decided that it was too confusing to give it its own name, as it would only ever be available as part of ‘Chemistry’ album. Until now, that is.” — Cheryl
“The day we shot the front sleeve was the same day we shot the head ‘Chemistry’ arm. When we walked into the photo studio it was like stepping onto a movie set – the kitchen scene you see on the front of the album was a stage set and it looked so impressive, like something out of a 1950s Hollywood movie. If you had told us that the chosen image of the day would be celebrated by the National Portrait Gallery (which it did at Christmas 2023) we would never have believed you!” — Nadine
“Christmas tour with us” available to download/stream now! CD and vinyl editions will be released on November 14th and are available for pre-order here.
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