Christmas & Chill
2015 EP by Ariana Grande
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Christmas & Chill is the second Christmas record and extended play (EP) by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on December 18, 2015 by Republic Records as a follow-up to her 2013 Christmas EP Christmas Kisses and her 2014 Christmas single "Santa Tell Me".[1] The EP features six, original, R&B-inspired Christmas tracks produced by American producers Tommy Brown, Mr. Franks, The Magi, and Travis Sayles. Grande has expressed admiration and has referred to it as her "favorite body of work".[2]
| Christmas & Chill | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | December 18, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | December 2015 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 13:10 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Producer |
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| Ariana Grande chronology | ||||
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The EP received favorable reviews from music critics. It debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and at number 3 on the Billboard Holiday Albums ranking in the United States.[3] The EP sold 35,000 copies in its first week of release in the US and has sold over 180,000 copies worldwide.[4][5] Christmas & Chill was originally only available as a digital download, but on November 18, 2016, the EP was reissued in Japan with a new artwork.[6][7] The EP gained renewed interest when it was reissued as vinyl LPs in November 2019.[8][9][10]
Recording and music
According to Tommy Brown, the EP was recorded in four days at Ariana Grande's home studio, in Hollywood.[11] Songwriting credits are shared by Grande with Brown.[12] 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 resembles Jason Mraz, as Grande sings 'My baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things'.".[13]
Critical reception
Jaleesa M. Jones in USA Today called it "a festive ode to winter romance."[14] 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."[15] Two years after its release, MTV's Sydney Gore and Brian Anthony Hernandez revisited the EP, calling it "a new holiday classic" and "a catalyst of original Christmas carols for the so-called doomed millennial generation. ...[T]his EP has the power to melt any trace of snow that's piling up on your front porch. ... There's a playful, eflish energy about ["True Love"] that makes you want to hang mistletoe everywhere to secure a smooch with that special someone."[16]
Billboard ranked the EP as one of the Best Christmas Albums of the 21st Century "Grande’s second holiday EP eschews traditional sounds of the season, opting instead for contemporary R&B grooves, trap synths and punny innuendo [...] Despite some sleigh bells and a few tossed-off references to the North Pole, this isn’t your parents’ holiday fare."[17]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" |
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| 1:05 |
| 2. | "Wit It This Christmas" |
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| 2:41 |
| 3. | "December" |
|
| 1:56 |
| 4. | "Not Just on Christmas" |
|
| 2:02 |
| 5. | "True Love" |
|
| 2:46 |
| 6. | "Winter Things" |
|
| 2:38 |
| Total length: | 13:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Into You" (Alex Ghenea remix; featuring Mac Miller) |
| 4:10 | |
| Total length: | 17:20 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Santa Tell Me" (Naughty version) |
| Ilya | 3:24 |
| Total length: | 16:34 | |||
- ^[a] denotes a remixer
Charts
| Chart (2015–2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] | 49 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] | 73 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] | 168 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] | 43 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 53 |
| Latvian Albums (LaIPA)[23] | 94 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] | 30 |
| US Billboard 200[25] | 34 |
| US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)[26] | 3 |