But a couple of Christmases ago, Cole got slapped together with Gregory Porter on a rewiring of his classic take on “The Girl From Ipanema.” This year, it’s an album of Cole’s old vocal tracks pasted over flamboyant new orchestrations. But why is it that producers seem to feel especially entitled to pick up Cole’s voice in particular and move it around as they please? The original recordings, after all, leave almost nothing out of place. Nat King Cole isn’t the only dead-and-gone genius having his voice scraped off original recordings and given the reinstall.

It’s also striking just how uncelebratory some of these songs are: “Merry Christmas (to the One I Used to Know)” is haunting “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)” is a blissful tsk-tsk and “Merry Christmas Baby,” about sloughing off a deadbeat partner, is deliciously icy: “Have yourself a merry Christmas/Hope it’s not as cold as you.” JON CARAMANICA Nat King Cole, ‘A Sentimental Christmas With Nat King Cole and Friends: Cole Classics Reimagined’ “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me” with Ariana Grande is pure Motown, and “Glow” with Chris Stapleton is a worthy howl-off between two powerhouse vocalists. (See “Last Christmas,” especially, rendered here as a vivid roller coaster.) However, it’s Clarkson’s originals - which she sings with the kind of verve most singers not named Mariah Carey don’t bother putting into their holiday releases - that make “When Christmas Comes Around …” truly stand out. The standards on Kelly Clarkson’s second Christmas album are almost unfair to other interpreters - she is that nimble a singer. Kelly Clarkson, ‘When Christmas Comes Around …’

Our pop and jazz critics surveyed the latest releases and picked out 13 worthy of a seasonal spin. Holiday music is big business: Just take a look at the Billboard charts every December, when the Top 10s fill up with Christmas (and more religion-neutral) albums that are both new and nostalgic.

Best holiday albums 2021