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". 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".
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. It opened with 35,000 album equivalent units in its first week of release in the US, and has sold over 180,000 copies worldwide. Christmas & Chill was originally only available on streaming and as a digital download, but on November 18, 2016, the EP was released digitally and on CD in Japan with new artwork and the Alex Ghenea remix of "Into You", as an exclusive bonus track.
The EP gained renewed interest when it was reissued as a vinyl record in November 2019, featuring the naughty version of "Santa Tell Me" as a hidden track, which later was added to a digital reissue of the EP worldwide in 2023.
Recording and music According to Tommy Brown, the EP was recorded in four days at Ariana Grande's home studio, in Hollywood. Songwriting credits are shared by Grande with Brown. For Rolling Stones 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'".Spanos, Brittany. "Hear Ariana Grande's Surprise-Released EP 'Christmas & Chill'", Rolling Stone magazine, December 17, 2015
Critical reception Jaleesa M. Jones in USA Today called it "a festive ode to winter romance.""Ariana Grande wants to 'Christmas & chill' on new EP", USA Today, December 18, 2015 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."Garland, Emma. "Ariana Grande's Christmas & Chill Is the Perfect Festive Romp", Noisey, December 18, 2015 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."Gore, Sydney and Brian Anthony Hernandez. "Let's Talk About How Ariana Grande's Christmas & Chill EP Is a New Holiday Classic", MTV, December 6, 2017
Billboard ranked the EP as one of the Best Christmas Albums of the 21st Century, stating: "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."
Track listing
denotes a remixer
Charts +Chart performance for Christmas & Chill Chart (2015–2025) Peak position Latvian Albums (LaIPA) 94
References