Home for Christmas (BarlowGirl album)

Background

When the Barlow sisters were growing up, they wished to have a baby grand piano at home. One Christmas Eve in the early 1990s, their mother convinced them to spend the day shopping. It was at that time that their father and brother moved the heavy piano inside the home. Upon noticing the piano when they returned home, the sisters had tears of joy. It was then that they began a Christmas tradition of singing carols in four-part harmony with their four female cousins.

The seven girls dreamed of creating a Christmas record at that time, a dream that materialized with Home for Christmas. The four cousins, the Shell sisters (Jessica, Jodie, Jennie and Jane), indeed share vocals with the Barlow sisters on "Panis Angelicus" and on the "Angelic Proclamation" medley.

Recording

Development of the album began in 2008, with all the instrumentation already recorded before the Barlows began their studio work in Franklin, TN and Nashville, TN in March 2008. In addition to being BarlowGirl's sole Christmas album, it is also the band's only album to omit rock music and have the sisters perform vocals only, despite implication to the contrary in the "Hallelujah (Light Has Come)" music video and in the album liner's band listing. This was done to make the album enjoyable to older generations, including parents and grandparents. Lauren Barlow lost her voice the week prior to recording. She notes that forsaking her drum set felt "weird […] but it was freeing, too". Lauren further describes the studio environment as being Christmas-themed, from the decorations ("Christmas lights and garland") to the Christmas-only music and movie policy to the air-conditioned "freezing". The Barlows' recording session concluded in April 2008.

Sarah Barlow photographed the album art in Vail, Colorado during the first week of March 2008 while the band was taking a three-day break from Winter Jam 2008.

The album consists of eleven tracks, seven which focus on the birth of Jesus Christ and four festivities-focused songs which are more secular in nature. Three medleys (two Christian, one more secular) are featured on the album. For the remaining tracks, each of the sisters could include two of her favorite songs on the album. For Rebecca, this included "What Child Is This?", the only published recording where she sang lead vocals. For Alyssa, this included the Catholic hymn "Panis Angelicus", the only BarlowGirl recording in a foreign language; Alyssa sang the lead vocals in Latin, while her sisters and the Shell sisters add English background vocals not featured in the original hymn such as "most holy" and "praise thee always". Both songs were released as free downloads.

Singles

Release

Home for Christmas was released worldwide on September 28, 2008 by Fervent Records. It was made available for digital download by the iTunes Store and Amazon Music.

Marketing

Warner Music Group designed a promotional site, Christmas for the Whole Family, to promote Christmas music in its roster such as BarlowGirl. Two free downloads were made available for this album: "What Child Is This?" was free on Amazon Music (then known as Amazon MP3), while "Panis Angelicus" was free on iTickets. The band's merch store also offered Christmas merchandise for sale, including ornaments and collector tins.

Critical reception

Home for Christmas received positive reviews from music critics. Sarah Fine of New Release Today gave the album five stars out of five, writing: "Not only is this one of the best Christmas albums of 2008, it's one of the best that I own." John Fisher of Cross Rhythms was less generous, giving the album six out of ten stars, as he deemed that "Go Tell It On The Mountain" was "a bit more sedate than the usual renditions" and the lack of rock music as "surely an album which will disappoint many". Three other critics gave the album four out of five stars: Andy Argyrakis of CCM Magazine, Russ Breimeier of Christianity Today and Lauren Summerford of Jesus Freak Hideout. Argyrakis lists two covers and the original "Hallelujah (Light Has Come)" as favorites, but noted that the album "would've benefited from at least another original tune or two." Breimeier noted that "after a while, the gentle sound gets somewhat repetitive" and criticized "What Child Is This?" as "too pokey for its own good", but nevertheless called the album "one of the year's most pleasant surprises." Summerford called Home for Christmas "a whirlwind adventure with all the bells and whistles any seasonal project should have."

Personnel

Credits for Home for Christmas adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

Musicians (New Song Ensemble)

Production

Charts

Home for Christmas charted at No. 180 on the Billboard 200 at at No. 2 on Billboard Holiday Albums.

Awards

In 2009, the album was nominated for a Dove Award for Christmas Album of the Year at the 40th GMA Dove Awards.