As soon as the calendar turned from October to November, local San Diego artist Phil Wickham decided it was an appropriate time for us to start listening to Christmas music. On Nov. 1, he released his fourth holiday album, “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas!”
The 15-track album features Christmas classics like “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Deck The Halls” and “Winter Wonderland.” It also showcases original songs like “Behold” featuring Anne Wilson and “Manger Throne.”
At first, I hesitated to listen to Wickham’s new Christmas album. His voice has welcomed the holiday season into my family home for years, and it’s become a tradition to listen to one of his Christmas albums while my parents and I decorate the tree. When his album was released on Nov. 1, it was the night of the Goodwin Halloween Bash at Point Loma Nazarene University, and the high was 70°F. It didn’t feel right to listen to Christmas music.
But as the weather begins to dip and Thanksgiving break sits just around the corner, it’s slowly but surely starting to feel a little more like the holiday season. Still feeling slightly guilty for listening to Christmas music so soon, I gritted my teeth and turned on Wickham’s “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas!”
Despite my original hesitation to listen to the album, I’m glad I did. It’s a beautiful holiday album from start to finish, displaying Wickham’s enthusiasm for the Christmas season.
“The album is titled ‘Hallelujah! It’s Christmas!'” Wickham said in a post on Instagram. “Yes, if you know me, you know I get pumped about Christmas, but that’s not all the title means. It’s also what my heart just wants to sing. Hallelujah! God sent His only Son into the mess of the manger to save us. Hallelujah! He still meets us in our mess today. Hallelujah! We are not alone; God is with us.”
Every time Wickham releases a seasonal album, he cleverly finds a way to mesh worship and Christmas together. On his 2019 album, “Christmas,” “Joy to the World (Joyful, Joyful)” found its way into churches and Christian radio stations alike. On this year’s album I wouldn’t be surprised if churches began to include “Manger Throne” into their holiday worship sets.
“Manger Throne” finds common ground between congregational worship and the defining nostalgia of Christmas music. From Wickham’s powerful vocals to the lyrics declaring, “Glory be to You alone / King who reigns from a manger throne,” everything about “Manger Throne” is so quintessentially a Wickham Christmas song.
Continuing his theme of congregational worship, the song right before “Manger Throne” covers Chris Tomlin’s “Holy Forever.” It’s a song often sung in PLNU’s chapel, and can hardly be counted as a Christmas song. Yet with the gentle melody of violins in the background and put side by side with “Manger Throne,” somehow it works.
Another standout track to me is the cover of Nat King Cole’s “A Cradle in Bethlehem,” featuring Wickham’s brother and local pastor of Park Hill Church, Evan Wickham. Although the song was originally released by Cole in 1960, the Wickham brothers’ version feels timeless.
While Wickham did have a number of Christmas songs that will probably become staples on my holiday playlists, there were a few that I wouldn’t put on repeat.
Wickham brought in a choir for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which is fine in theory, but the final product felt more like a Broadway production than your average Christmas choir. Their sudden vocals 40 seconds into the song caught me off guard and made the song lose some of its original appeal.
I thought another miss was “Deck The Halls” featuring CHPTRS. The song, which is normally fun and upbeat, was strangely depressing in Wickham’s new version. Although the melody gets fast and his vocals strengthen toward the end, I couldn’t get into it.
While in some ways “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas” is repetitive of his last Christmas album, you can never go wrong with Wickham. He’s one of the most influential Christian songwriters today, and everything he releases seems to find a way to impact the global church. I’m excited to see what influence “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas!” will have this holiday season.
It doesn’t quite feel like Christmas yet at PLNU, but “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas!” is a reminder that the holidays are quickly approaching. It’s worth a listen, and it might just get you in the Christmas spirit a little early this year.
Nick Hancock 
Steve Anderson