One Christmas: Chapter One

The first in a projected series of yearly seasonal EPs, One Christmas , thankfully, a more eccentric holiday album than LeAnn Rimes' What a Wonderful World. That 2004 Christmas record played it straight, but here Rimes launches into the 1953 novelty "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" on the second track, then slides into a soulful rendition of "Blue Christmas" after that. Generally, One Christmas does operate at a slow burn — "Somebody at Christmas" and "Hard Candy Christmas" both simmer, with only "Carol of the Bells" sparkling perhaps a bit too much, providing a quickening tempo — but Rimes' decision to play it cool in addition to having a bit of fun makes One Christmas a neat little seasonal treat.