Down Home Christmas

The Oak Ridge Boys are no strangers to holiday albums. As a matter of fact, the last studio album they cut prior to 2019's Down Home Christmas was 2016's Celebrate Christmas, which was the seventh seasonal platter the group recorded over the course of their career. Where Celebrate Christmas leaned heavily on familiar tunes, Down Home Christmas is a splashier affair, produced by Dave Cobb, the hottest producer in Nashville during the second half of the 2010s. Cobb revives and freshens the classic Oak Ridge Boys sound of the early 1980s -- it's clean and smooth, with many nostalgic nods to the sock hops of the '50s -- and steers the group to newly written songs, many penned by Aaron Raitiere. The results are pleasing, if somewhat awkward. From the start, it's clear that the Oak Ridge Boys are a bit older than they once were; their voices are weathered and worn, like a well-loved family couch. As "The Family Piano" kicks off the album, their evident age is a little startling, but soon the harmonies seem warm and familiar, which leads to an appreciation of the album's construction. Cobb has assembled a lively, cheerful collection of originals, one where rollicking novelties like "Reindeer on the Roof" and "Don't Go Pullin' on Santa Claus' Beard" are as integral to the album's success as the sticky sentiments of "Bring Daddy Home for Christmas." Better still are the moments that exist between the two extremes, like "South Alabama Christmas," a slow blues which feels as comforting as a night in by the fire on a cold December day. It all adds up to one of the better holiday albums by the Oak Ridge Boys. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine