Keith Sweat | A Christmas of Love

Keith Sweat | A Christmas of Love (2007)
By George Strand

(Published Dec. 10th, 2009)

The Holiday Season. Beckoned with warmth, seasonal temperature changes & gift wrapping paper scattered all over the tables & floors. Lets not forget about the many spices & candles, the outdoor home light fixtures & a traditional choice of the decorated Christmas Tree. Along with visiting family not seen in recent years & so forth. That’s if you celebrate Christmas that way. Many do. Many don’t.

But one thing’s for sure: Christmas music can resonate a feeling of peace & a moment of reflection. A time to listen in on your favorite artists as they re-produce some of the most memorable songs & covers from tracks embellished years ago. One CD out of all of them in my collection: The Temptations, The Whispers, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Vanessa Williams, etc …one stuck out like a sore thumb. And I say this in good gesture.

Keith Sweat‘s “A Christmas of Love.” A completely different twist to the way certain holiday carols are sung. Mr. Sweat generated 9 songs for an otherwise very appealing & well structured set of on-the-way classics. And he created 8 out of the 9 tracks on the album as originals.

Released in 2007, I found this hip urban piece of music fantastic. Very catchy with a message significant to the times we are in. The grooves were proven of that ol’ New Jack Swing movement and he cascades the lady(ies) with a heartwarming set of slow ballads. A couple of rap solos were heard, but the subject remained the ever popular topic of honoring Jesus Christ as the reason for this season.

Tracks like “Be Your Santa Claus”, “It’s Christmas Again” & “Under The Tree” illustrated the snowflakes flowing in the background window scene, as you walk with a cup of eggnog in hand, while “Party Christmas” may make you put on a coat & some slippers – steadily raising the bar for an invite to a breakout Christmas Party in your neck of the woods.

An official bottle of Christian Brothers eggnog w/brandy & some cinnamon sticks may come handy when you skip to track #5 in “All I Want For Christmas”. It sounds much like many of his trademarked, master slow jams & sensual ‘turn-ons’. Is that also what the holidays can bring between romantic lovers? Put a check mark next to this one.

The only ‘cover’ was a fine interpretation of “The Christmas Song”, which could be interesting to hear for many of you considering Keith’s style to R&B music.

Nonetheless, I appreciated his offering. It’s been a second since his last chocolate dropping, “Just Me”, came around the way. I fully expect Mr. Sweat to keep the game in check with more mesmerizing slow cuts to float up the river stream soon. As for the Christmas musical candy cane, I grade it a 3+ out of 5. If it sounded that good from the beginning, there should have been a couple of more tracks. Holiday music is meant to last year over year. This one will do so. But it could easily burn itself out with not enough morsels to bite on, if you know what i mean my friends.

Merry Christmas T.U.M.S. Readers.

George Strand
The Urban Music Scene