Award-nominated Canadian artist Hannah Thomas has unveiled her stunning new holiday album, Christmas Don’t Be Late.
Recently nominated for Young Performer of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, the 18-year-old songstress from Stratford, Ontario harnesses the magic of Christmas by delivering 11 reimagined Christmas tracks that feature her gorgeous vox and ethereal delivery.
Thomas began prepping the album alongside Dayna Manning and Lori Thomas in the early months of 2020.
“I love Christmas music,” Thomas says, adding she’d been considering a Christmas album for more than a few years.
The title track of the album, “Christmas Don’t Be Late”, was one of the first songs the trio considered for the project.
“I love the song and thought that I could do a really unique version of it,” Thomas explains, adding, “Ben Bolt-Martin was the arranger on this album and he did an outstanding job making all of the songs unique but this arrangement was one of my favourites. It boasts a slow melodic start, then breaks into an uptempo, fast paced, catchy Christmas tune.”
The album works flawlessly as the soundtrack of the season with 11 exquisitely recorded takes on seasonal favourites, such as Meghan Trainor’s “I’ll Be Home,” Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the release’s title track, “Christmas Don’t Be Late,” and more. The release concludes with a heartfelt and inspiring father/daughter duet of “The Prayer,” featuring Hannah’s dad, Dale Thomas.
“We recorded this album in the middle of Covid-19 when rental space and in person contact was limited,” Thomas describes of the studio process. “We were fortunate to find a space in a friend’s former chicken barn just outside of Stratford where we had the proper acoustics and availability to safely distance from one another. It was here that we recorded some of the instruments and really got a feel for what the album would sound like.
“The addition of the odd cricket, which we had to remove from the room, added some humour to our days of recording!” she continues. “We finished recording the album in late Fall of 2020 at The Drive Shed Recording Studio, with John ‘Beetle’ Bailey, in New Hamburg, Ontario.”
If you’re like me, and you love Christmas music, this is a must-listen, check it out below, and stay up to date with Hannah via her socials.