BRAND NEW YEAR
SHeDAISY
Lyric Street
Released: 2000

This isn't your cozy, cuddly, sentimental Christmas fare. The sisters Osborne—Kristyn, Kelsi, Kassidy—and their producer, Dann Huff, drop in musical quotes from virtually every style of contemporary popular music, including jittery hip-hop rhythms, wailing rock guitars, soaring pop strings, tight country harmonies, R&B vocal inflections, thus fashioning a Yuletide album headed for the edge. The insistent, pounding drums and jangly electric guitars backing the trio's smooth harmonizing on "The Secret of Christmas" may not be what songwriting giants Sammy Cahn-James Van Heusen had in mind when they penned the tune for Bing Crosby's 1959 film, Say One For Me, but the Osbornes' heartfelt singing makes the fusion work. Disparate styles come together effectively on Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and especially on the feisty, propulsive "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" (one of four originals on the album co-written by Kristyn Osborne). For traditionalists, there's a solemn take on "What Child Is This," and an atmospheric evocation of the seasonal spirit in the sweet harmonies and children's choruses on Leslie Bricusses's "Christmas Children." Santa should reward these gals for taking the road less traveled. —David McGee