AMG Review of This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday, Vol. 1

Andrew Leahey
All Music Guide

As its name suggests, This Warm December replaces the snowy sounds of most Christmas albums with a warm mix of acoustic guitars and relaxed dorm-room crooning. Jack Johnson is king here, contributing two songs (a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" and a revised "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," both of them performed in his familiar beachside/campfire style) and cherry-picking his favorite Brushfire artists to populate the rest of the track list. Few tunes deviate from that acoustic formula, with only Money Mark's tuba-anchored "Stuck at the Airport" and ALO's energetic "Christmas Time" offering something different. Listeners who prefer Christmas to be a mellow and temperate affair, however, may find This Warm December to be a handy stocking stuffer.