Humperdinck has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity lately; his recent The Man I Want to Be album was well received by fans and critics alike. To keep the momentum going, Englebert pops with this Christmas album, his first in 40-years. Smooth vocals and light orchestration are hallmarks of Humperdinck's style, and that sound plays out on classics like "Please Come Home for Christmas" and the answer tune, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." "White Christmas" though, with a walking beat and fiddle parts, is a western swing number while "O Tannenbaum" is sung in German before Hump sings part of the song as the English equivalent, "O Christmas Tree." Warmest Christmas Wishes is the perfect listen to accompany a quiet, pre-holiday evening, especially if you're snuggled up with a loved one at the time.
There are holiday embracers and holiday dissenters. Those for whom the season is about celebration and those who seek solace as soon as the evergreens come out. For both groups, however, there is new music this year — a soundtrack for all the seasonal moods. There are traditional holiday tunes polished to a sheen; songs that approach festive joy through completely new musical lenses; and numbers that use familiar frameworks to deliver subversive messages. So whether your Christmas is a merry one or a grumpy one, press play.
Let warm oil pour over you this holiday season — the perfect croon of Engelbert Humperdinck is back. "Warmest Christmas Wishes" is his second album of new recordings in two years, following a several-year drought, and it is peak holiday schlock, a hearty and unerringly smooth nog. He still has a meaty voice, his phrasing polished to a gleam by thousands of nights on Vegas stages. There are a couple of originals here, but skip right to the chestnuts — "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" — platonic-ideal versions delivered without an ounce of camp.
Over the course of a career spanning more than 50 years, Arnold George Dorsey AKA Engelbert Humperdinck, 82, has become known for more than just his arresting stage name. Beginning his career on the nightclub circuit of late 1950s London, he was spotted by Tom Jones's manager Gordon Mills, who encouraged the name change – a homage to the 19th-century German operatic composer of Hansel and Gretel. Mills then had Humperdinck work with Frank Sinatra songwriter Bert Kaempfert and together they produced his first number one, Release Me, in 1967.
Since then, Humperdinck has become an icon of the crooning ballad, selling more than 150m records and building a discography with more than 70 albums. He fronted his own TV show in 1969, featuring guests such as Tony Bennett, Shirley Bassey and Ray Charles, as well as collaborating with Paul Anka and the Bee Gees. Recent years have seen Humperdinck represent the UK at the 2012 Eurovision song contest, the second oldest performer to take part in the competition, and almost collaborate with Gorillaz on their album Plastic Beach – his manager erroneously rejected Damon Albarn's offer in a move Humperdinck has called "the most grievous sin ever committed".
Following the release of his sixth Christmas album, Warmest Christmas Wishes, Humperdinck is joining us to answer your questions about his life and music, in a live webchat from 1pm GMT on Wednesday 5 December – post them in the link below and he'll take on as many as possible.