My holiday playlist, to which I return year after year, contains nostalgic classics, including “Silver Bells,” “Winter Wonderland”And “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”Over the years I’ve added a few hits including Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe”Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree.” New additions, though, have been rare.
When I heard that Grammy-nominated, it was a shock.Bryson TillerThe singer best known for his debut album in 2015, “T R A P S O U L” and collaborations with DJ Khaled and Rihanna, was dropping an EP entitled “A Different Christmas” Friday, I was curious how his distinctive R&B style could sound on holiday songs.
After listening to the seven-track EP, I can confidently say I’ll be adding his tracks to my Christmas rotation.
“I just want to make somebody’s playlist,” Tiller tells USA TODAY, adding that he even if it’s one song that people come back to each Christmas, he’ll be satisfied. “The thing about music, when you make a song it becomes the soundtrack to somebody’s life.”
The standout track on Tiller’s “A Different Christmas” is a collaboration with Justin Bieber and Poo Bear (“lonely christmas”). The ballad looks ahead to a “lonely, brokenhearted” Christmas is an instant classic.
“I was like ‘Man, this is dope, this is different,”Tiller speaks of the song. It’s “different from what my fans are used to hearing from me.”
Other collaborations include Kiana Ledé (“presents”), Tayla Parx (“ain’t a lonely christmas song”) and his 8-year old daughter Harley, whose stage name is Halo (“winter wonderland”). It also includes an original song “be mine this christmas,”Cover of the classic “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” dubbed “i’ll be home.”
This is the concept of “A Different Christmas”Tiller was last year when Tiller was struggling to think of a Christmas without his family. He had been inspired by Ariana Grande and Bieber’s Christmas albums.
“I was going through some things in my personal life,” Tiller says. “And I was just thinking about the idea of a lonely Christmas and what would it be like if I was alone.”
This year won’t be lonely though, says Tiller, who started decorating for Christmas on Nov. 1.
“I’ll be spending it with my family. I’ll have both of my daughters with me. That will be amazing,”He said that he was referring to Harley Tiller (8 years old) and Kelly Tiller (1 year old). “This will be the first year that my (younger) daughter spends Christmas with me and my oldest daughter has spent Christmas with me three years, other times has been FaceTime. So this Christmas will be really different for me, and I’m excited about it.”
Recording with his little girl was “definitely a tear-jerker moment,” Tiller says. They recorded in October, and Tiller was there to help. “decked out”With Christmas lights all around.
Her father stated that Harley realized she wanted to do more with music and this experience made it clear to her.
If she’s got a voice anything like her dad’s, one day I’ll be adding her songs to my Christmas playlist, too.
