Christmas & Chill

Christmas & Chill is the second extended play (EP) and second Christmas 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".[1] The EP features six original Christmas tracks composed and produced mainly by Grande and co-writers, most of which have an R&B sound. Grande has continuously called it her "favorite body of work".[2]

Christmas & Chill
EP by Ariana Grande
Released	December 18, 2015
Recorded	December 2015
Genre	Christmas trap R&B
Length	13:10
Label	Republic
Producer	Tommy Brown Mr. Franks The Magi Travis Sayles
Ariana Grande chronology
The Remix (2015) Christmas & Chill (2015) Dangerous Woman (2016)
Alternative cover
Japanese reissue cover

The project received favorable reviews by 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.[3] The EP sold 35,000 copies in its first week of release in the US and has sold over 180,000 copies worldwide.[4][5]

Originally just available as a digital download, Christmas & Chill was reissued on CD in Japan on November 18, 2016 with new artwork.[6][7] The EP gained renewed interest when it was reissued on vinyl in November 2019 including "Santa Tell Me" as a hidden track.[8][9][10]

Recording and music

According to Tommy Brown, the EP was recorded in four days at Ariana Grande's home studio, in Hollywood.[11] Songwriting credits are shared by Grande with Brown.[12] For Rolling Stone's 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 sounds a bit like Jason Mraz, as Grande sings 'My baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things'.".[13]

Critical reception

Jaleesa M. Jones in USA Today called it "a festive ode to winter romance."[14] 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."[15] 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."[16]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Ariana Grande Victoria McCants Thomas Brown Travis Sayles Steven Franks Michael D. Foster Ryan Matthew Tedder	Brown Sayles Mr. Franks The Magi	1:05
2.	"Wit It This Christmas"	Grande McCants Brown Sayles Foster Tedder Peter Lee Johnson	Brown Sayles Mr. Franks The Magi	2:41
3.	"December"	Grande McCants Brown Sayles Franks Foster Tedder	Brown Sayles Mr. Franks The Magi	1:56
4.	"Not Just on Christmas"	Grande McCants Brown Sayles Franks Johnson	Brown Sayles	2:02
5.	"True Love"	Grande McCants Brown Sayles Franks Foster Tedder Johnson	Brown Sayles Mr. Franks The Magi	2:46
6.	"Winter Things"	Grande McCants Brown Sayles Franks Grande Johnson	Brown Sayles	2:38
Total length:				13:10

Japanese CD bonus track[6]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
7.	"Into You" (Alex Ghenea Remix) (featuring Mac Miller)	Grande Max Martin Savan Kotecha Alexander Kronlund Ilya	Ilya Martin Alex Ghenea ^[a]	4:10
Total length:				17:20

LP Version hidden track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
7.	"Santa Tell Me"	Grande Kotecha Ilya	Ilya	3:24
Total length:				16:34

• ^[a] denotes a remixer

Charts

Chart (2015–20)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17]	49
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18]	43
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19]	30
US Billboard 200[20]	34
US Holiday Albums (Billboard)[21]	3

References

1. "Christmas & Chill - EP", iTunes, December 18, 2015
2. Grande, Ariana (November 10, 2019). "oh my god. my favorite body of work. she is rising from the dead ! thank u new listeners of christmas n chill and hello everyone that is just now discovering it. i'm so happy". Twitter. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
3. "Holiday Albums : Page 1". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
4. "Ask Billboard: Ariana Grande's Sales, Kelly Clarkson's Streak & … Bernie Sanders' Sales, Too". Billboard. March 27, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
5. "Christmas & Chill by Ariana Grande on Google Play Music".
6. "アリアナ・グランデ、日本のファンに贈るクリスマスミニアルバムを11月リリース". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
7. "CDJapan: Christmas & Chill by Ariana Grande". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
8. Jasmine Ting (November 10, 2019). "Ariana Grande's 'Christmas & Chill' Is Done Hibernating". Paper. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
9. Rachel Handler (November 11, 2019). "Let's Talk About Ariana Grande's Extremely Horny Christmas Album". Vulture. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
10. Laura Stavropoulos (November 15, 2019). "Ariana Grande Releases All Five Studio Albums And Christmas EP On Colour Vinyl". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "AllMusic". Retrieved December 28, 2015.
13. Spanos, Brittany. "Hear Ariana Grande's Surprise-Released EP 'Christmas & Chill'", Rolling Stone magazine, December 17, 2015
14. "Ariana Grande wants to 'Christmas & chill' on new EP", USA Today, December 18, 2015
15. Garland, Emma. "Ariana Grande's Christmas & Chill Is the Perfect Festive Romp" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Noisey, December 18, 2015
16. 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
17. [EP&cat=a "Australiancharts.com – Ariana Grande – Christmas & Chill [EP]"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
18. "Ariana Grande Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
19. [EP&cat=a "Swedishcharts.com – Ariana Grande – Christmas & Chill [EP]"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
20. "Ariana Grande Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
21. "Ariana Grande Album & Song Chart History: Holiday Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 31, 2015.