Christmas & Chill

Christmas & Chill
EP by Ariana Grande
Released December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)
Recorded December 2015
Genre
Length 13:08
Label Republic
Producer
  • Tommy Brown
  • Ariana Grande
  • Mr. Franks
  • Magi
  • Travis Sayles
Ariana Grande chronology
The Remix
(2015)		 Christmas & Chill
(2015)		 Dangerous Woman
(2016)
Alternative cover
Japanese physical reissue cover[2]

Christmas & Chill is the second holiday EP by American singer Ariana Grande. Republic Records released it on December 18, 2015,[3] exclusively on iTunes as a Christmas gift to Grande's fans, as a follow-up to her 2013 holiday EP Christmas Kisses and her 2014 Christmas single Santa Tell Me. The EP features six original holiday tracks written by Grande, all of which have an R&B/trap sound.

The project received favorable reviews by critics, most of them noting the new sound for Grande. Despite not having any singles and receiving zero promotion, the EP had huge commercial success during the holiday season of 2015. It reached a peak of number 3 on the worldwide iTunes album chart, debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Holiday Albums[4] chart and at number 34 on the Billboard 200 chart.

On November 18, 2016, Christmas & Chill was released on CD in Japan.[5]

Recording and music

According to Grande, the EP was recorded in under a week in her home studio.[6] Songwriting credits are shared by Grande with Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Steven Franks, Victoria Monet, Travis Sayles, Ryan Matthew Tedder and Peter Lee Johnson.[7] For Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos, the EP consists of "romantic Christmas ballads over trap beats", commenting that "the one song to stand out from the more R&B-leaning EP is the folky 'Winter Things', where the acoustic track sounds a bit like Jason Mraz, as Grande sings 'My baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things'."[8]

Critical reception

Jaleesa M. Jones in USA Today called it "a festive ode to winter romance."[9] Emma Garland from Noisey said the album "basically sounds like a Cassie album ... but with sleigh bells and lyrics like 'tis the season for some love giving!' It's basically the perfect festive romp."[10] Apple Music described the EP as "a sultry set of modern holiday originals".

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Intro"  
  • Mr. Franks
  • Magi
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 1:05
2. "Wit It This Christmas"  
  • Grande
  • McCants
  • Brown
  • Sayles
  • Foster
  • Tedder
  • Peter Lee Johnson
  • Mr. Franks
  • Magi
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 2:41
3. "December"  
  • Grande
  • McCants
  • Brown
  • Sayles
  • Franks
  • Foster
  • Tedder
  • Mr. Franks
  • Magi
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 1:56
4. "Not Just on Christmas"  
  • Grande
  • McCants
  • Brown
  • Sayles
  • Franks
  • Johnson
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 2:02
5. "True Love"  
  • Grande
  • McCants
  • Brown
  • Sayles
  • Franks
  • Foster
  • Tedder
  • Johnson
  • Mr. Franks
  • Magi
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 2:46
6. "Winter Things"  
  • Grande
  • McCants
  • Brown
  • Sayles
  • Franks
  • Johnson
  • Sayles
  • Brown
 2:38
Total length:
 13:08

Charts

Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 49
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12] 43
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 30
US Billboard 200[14] 34
US Holiday Albums (Billboard)[15] 3

References

  1. ↑ "CDJapan: Christmas & Chill by Ariana Grande". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ "CDJapan: Christmas & Chill by Ariana Grande". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Christmas & Chill - EP", iTunes, December 18, 2015
  4. ↑
  5. 1 2 "アリアナ・グランデ、日本のファンに贈るクリスマスミニアルバムを11月リリース". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ariana Grande’s ‘Christmas & Chill': A Track-By-Track Review", PopCrush December 18, 2015
  7. ↑ Christmas & Chill, Allmusic.com, accessed December 28, 2015
  8. ↑ Spanos, Brittany. "Hear Ariana Grande's Surprise-Released EP 'Christmas & Chill'", Rolling Stone magazine, December 17, 2015
  9. ↑ "Ariana Grande wants to 'Christmas & chill' on new EP", USA Today, December 18, 2015
  10. ↑ Garland, Emma. "Ariana Grande's Christmas & Chill Is the Perfect Festive Romp", Noisey, December 18, 2015
  11. ↑ "[EP&cat=a Australiancharts.com – Ariana Grande – Christmas & Chill [EP]"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Ariana Grande – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Ariana Grande. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  13. ↑ "[EP&cat=a Swedishcharts.com – Ariana Grande – Christmas & Chill [EP]"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Ariana Grande – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Ariana Grande. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Ariana Grande Album & Song Chart History: Holiday Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
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