Bryson Tiller's new Christmas album featuring Justin Bieber is the holiday update I needed
My holiday playlist, which I return to year after year, is filled with nostalgic classics including "Silver Bells," "Winter Wonderland" and "All I Want For Christmas Is You." Over the years I've added a few hits including Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me," Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe" and Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree." New additions, though, have been rare.
But when I heard Grammy-nominated Bryson Tiller, the singer known for his 2015 debut album "T R A P S O U L" and collaborations with DJ Khaled and Rihanna, was dropping an EP entitled "A Different Christmas" Friday, I was curious how his distinctive R&B style could sound on holiday songs.
After listening to the seven-track EP, I can confidently say I'll be adding his tracks to my Christmas rotation.
"I just want to make somebody's playlist," Tiller tells USA TODAY, adding that he even if it's one song that people come back to each Christmas, he'll be satisfied. "The thing about music, when you make a song it becomes the soundtrack to somebody's life."
The standout track on Tiller's "A Different Christmas" is a collaboration with Justin Bieber and Poo Bear ("lonely christmas"). The ballad looks ahead to a "lonely, brokenhearted" Christmas is an instant classic.
"I was like 'Man, this is dope, this is different," Tiller says of the song. It's "different from what my fans are used to hearing from me."
Other collaborations include Kiana Ledé ("presents"), Tayla Parx ("ain’t a lonely christmas song") and his 8-year old daughter Harley, whose stage name is Halo ("winter wonderland"). It also features an original song "be mine this christmas," and a cover of the classic "I'll Be Home For Christmas" dubbed "i'll be home."
The concept for "A Different Christmas" came to Tiller last year, when he was contemplating a lonely Christmas himself, with inspiration taken from Bieber and Ariana Grande's Christmas albums.
"I was going through some things in my personal life," Tiller says. "And I was just thinking about the idea of a lonely Christmas and what would it be like if I was alone."
This year won't be lonely though, says Tiller, who started decorating for Christmas on Nov. 1.
"I'll be spending it with my family. I'll have both of my daughters with me. That will be amazing," he said referencing Harley Tiller, 8, and Kelly Tiller, 1. "This will be the first year that my (younger) daughter spends Christmas with me and my oldest daughter has spent Christmas with me three years, other times has been FaceTime. So this Christmas will be really different for me, and I'm excited about it."
Recording with his daughter was "definitely a tear-jerker moment," Tiller says. They recorded in late October and Tiller had the studio "decked out" with Christmas lights everywhere.
The experience helped Harley realize that she wanted to do more in the music space, her father said.
If she's got a voice anything like her dad's, one day I'll be adding her songs to my Christmas playlist, too.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryson Tiller 'A Different Christmas' features Justin Bieber song
