Starbucks Returns With Holiday Blend, Its First Holiday Album in More Than a Decade

Starbucks has a new holiday album, and it arrives on streaming services and in coffeehouse playlists on 4 November. The album, titled Holiday Blend, is the coffee chain's first holiday record in more than a decade, according to Billboard. It is being released through Interscope Records, part of Universal Music Group.

The last one came out in 2012. Holidays Rule featured The Shins, Fun., The Civil Wars and Paul McCartney. Holiday Blend takes a different approach, with a mix of established voices and newer names covering well-known seasonal songs.

Brandi Carlile performs Joni Mitchell's "River," one of the more reflective picks on the record. Leon Thomas covers James Brown's "Soulful Christmas," and Coco Jones takes on "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Magnus Ferrell sings a medley of "Happy Holiday" and "The Holiday Season."

The Womack Sisters cover Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means to Me." TRÍADA contributes a Spanish-language version of Luis Miguel's "Llegó La Navidad," which gives the album a second language alongside its English-language tracks.

The album also includes an original song. "This Christmas," from the group JYT, was written and produced by Freddy Wexler, with co-writer Elliah Heifetz and co-producer Gian Stone.

Starbucks says the album includes a $500,000 donation to World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit food relief group. The donation is part of the release.

For listeners, the appeal is simple. A holiday album is a seasonal habit, and the coffeehouse setting has long been its natural home. Playlists in cafés, stores and at home tend to spread a record far beyond people who go looking for it, and that is the audience this release is aimed at.

Holiday albums also run on a rhythm of their own. Many people hear them for only a few weeks each year, so their success is often measured by how often they return to playlists the following season. That measure will take years to show, and no early figures have been reported yet.

For now, the album is a new collection of old songs, plus one original, with a clear link to a coffee brand that has been building its music presence for years. It is out on Wednesday, 4 November.