Kirsten Kirk’s Christmas Album Brings Wholesome End to 2025 -

By Anthony Curioso

Although we are nearing March, some enthusiastic followers of the Catholic liturgical calendar may observe that the Christmas season only officially concluded on February 2 with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. As such, given that some people may have only just put their Christmas decorations away, it seems fitting to reignite the mood of Christmas just one more time by discussing a rather under-the-radar Christmas album that was officially released for all streaming platforms on Christmas Eve, 2025.

Kirsten Kirk, a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music and a member of the Boston-based indie-pop band, Emily and the Galaxy, was the main figurehead in charge of putting this Christmas album together. In doing so, Kirk received immense support from several of her bandmates, as well as other Berklee students and fellow recent alumni.

On the inspiration behind the album, Kirk shared the following statement via Instagram: “When I moved to Boston, my mom mentioned wanting a Christmas album – 4.5 years later, on my flight back from [Berklee’s] Thanksgiving break this year, I started planning out the next three weeks in Boston and how to make it happen.”

Influenced by her mother’s desire for a Christmas album and reflecting on the logistics for how the songs were recorded during the final weeks of the Fall 2025 semester at Berklee College of Music, Kirk aptly titled her album 3 Week *Mostly Live Christmas Album for my Parents.

3 Week *Mostly Live Christmas Album for my Parents consists of 10 classic Christmas carols one might expect to find on a Christmas album. Each track features Kirk as a principal vocalist, with other Berklee students or recent alumni accompanying each song on their respective instruments.

The album fittingly begins with “Let It Snow.” Kirk’s rendition of “Let it Snow” is a jazzy cover of the timeless classic, with the musical arrangement showcasing Kirk’s impressive lower vocal register and her accompanist’s improvisational skills in a way that you just cannot get enough of – truly ringing in the holiday season in the best way possible.

“The First Noel” is next on the tracklist – a song that most Catholics will have heard at least once during Mass in the Advent or Christmas season. “The First Noel” is one of my favorite hymns to hear during Advent and Christmas, and I must admit that this rendition gave me chills to a degree I never expected. While listening to Kirk’s cover of this song, I felt I had no choice but to keep listening to it over and over again. The one minor grievance I have with “The First Noel” in the album is that the pace of this rendition moves too rapidly for what I expect most people will probably enjoy.

Following “The First Noel” is “Blue Christmas”, which, unfortunately, is one of the few Christmas carols that I don’t particularly enjoy. The song demands more challenging vocal techniques than other Christmas carols. As this recording suggests, Kirk is one of many singers who struggle to perform “Blue Christmas” using healthy vocal techniques.

The next track on the album is “O Holy Night,” a classic hymn often featured in Catholic Masses during the Advent and Christmas seasons. While “O Holy Night” demands complex vocal techniques similar to those required for “Blue Christmas,” Kirk demonstrates much better control over her voice and vocal health in this particular performance. She manages to avoid vocal strain, even during the long, high notes. My only minor complaint about Kirk’s version of “O Holy Night” is that it feels too short, with only one verse. I would have loved to hear more of the song, as I was experiencing the same chills I had felt during “The First Noel.” Unfortunately, that feeling was abruptly cut off when “O Holy Night” ended so soon.

From there on though, Kirk blesses our ears with “The Christmas Song” (more commonly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”), accompanied by a pianist. As with “Let it Snow”, Kirk’s cover of “The Christmas Song” shows off her impressive lower vocal register, and the pianist once again dazzles listeners with their improvisation skills.

Next is “Silent Night”, a hymn that is perhaps most commonly performed at Christmas Eve Masses. Kirk’s cover of this song for her album is an a cappella duet arrangement. This rendition of “Silent Night” is by far the most impressive display of Kirk’s lower vocal register across the entire album, and listeners will end up weepy, at an absolute minimum – if not full-on sobbing – when they listen to it.

After “Silent Night” comes Kirk’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Kirk’s version does provide the nostalgia that one can come to expect with this piece; however, the additional harmonies provided by a second singer do not add anything particularly noteworthy to the overall composition, and it would have been even better had it consisted of only Kirk singing, accompanied by the instrumentalists.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is the third-to-last track Kirk provides us on her album, and is honestly the only track that is perhaps not worth your time to listen to. In addition to the blatant sexism within the lyrics – a gripe that many people have with the song, regardless of the performer(s) — the jazzy piano introduction of Kirk’s version is rather annoying to listen to, so much so that I needed to skip over the rest of the song!

The penultimate track on Kirk’s 3 Week *Mostly Live Christmas Album for my Parents is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” a classic holiday song. The album concludes with Kirk’s rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” Both of these are the most collaborative songs on the album, each featuring three additional musicians alongside Kirk. In contrast, none of the other tracks include more than two additional musicians. As a result, the album closes on a fitting note with these two songs.

Overall, Kirk’s 3 Week *Mostly Live Christmas Album for my Parents is a solid Christmas album that rivals those of more mainstream artists. It is currently available to stream on all mainstream music platforms.