Only Santa Knows

Only Santa Knows is the sixth studio album and the first full-length Christmas album by Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem. It was released on 12 November 2020 through Sony Music Australia. It is Goodrem's second Christmas release, after 2012's Christmas EP. The album includes two original tracks and 11 covers, including "Silent Night" with Gurrumul, which was recorded in 2014 and included on the The Spirit of Christmas 2014.[1]

Only Santa Knows
Studio album by
Delta Goodrem
Released12 November 2020 (2020-11-12)
Recorded2014 and 2020
GenreChristmas
Length41:59
LabelSony Music
Producer
  • Delta Goodrem
  • Mathew Copley
  • Michael Hohnen
Delta Goodrem chronology
I Honestly Love You
(2018)		 Only Santa Knows
(2020)

Background

In December 2019, Goodrem announced she was "living in a music bubble", working on her sixth studio album.[2]

2020 saw Goodrem release numerous stand-alone singles including "Let It Rain", "Keep Climbing" and "Paralyzed", the latter two then being referred to as singles from an upcoming sixth studio album of original material. She described album upon the release of "Paralyzed" to be "a nod to [my old stuff] sonically speaking in terms of what I was listening to, and getting re-inspired by", further adding "I needed to kind of go back to what I used to do. I had to give myself the freedom to be a little eccentric again. With some of the other songs on the new record, I definitely allowed myself to change tempos; to not have a structure. And at the same time, to have hopefully enough catchiness for somebody to still grab hold of it. There’s definitely still both sides of the coin."[3] In an interview with Grazia, Goodrem referred to the album as her "first 'woman' record", further explaining "my next album has really been about being transparent and finding that part of me that wants to be my authentic self at all times. The album is incredibly personal, raw and honest. I have opened up and shared stories that I have not shared before and people have really resonated to the transparency and vulnerability. I just want to make good music for people to have as soundtracks to their own lives."[4]

Despite working on an album of original material, Only Santa Knows was released on 12 November 2020 with no prior announcement. On Twitter, Goodrem stated: "I hope the music brings you joy and puts us all in good spirits regardless of everything going on around us."[5]

Following the surprise release of the album, Goodrem explained that the idea for a Christmas album had begun "midway through the year" and that she "went to storage, grabbed all the Christmas decorations, took them to the studio and started getting into the spirit".[6]

Reception

In a review for Only Santa Knows, website Stack referred to Goodrem as a "traditionalist" and opined that "opening on an uber-haunting version of the already spooky Carol of the Bells, it’s immediately clear Delta Goodrem knows what makes the Christmas classics tick".[7] Thomas Bleach commented "reimagining some Christmas classics through her Delta Goodrem musical lens, she's delivered some very uplifting renditions of "The Little Drummer Boy", "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "White Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". She even recorded her own version of Joni Mitchell's "River" which over time has become a Christmas cult favourite. But on top of that, she also wrote a brand new Christmas song which embodies the importance of believing during this time of year."[8]

Only Santa Knows debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart at number five,[9] the lowest opening week of Goodrem's career. In its fifth charting week, the album rose to number two.

Promotion

To support the album, Goodrem announced her own Christmas special Christmas with Delta, which aired on Nine Network on 12 December,[10] to a viewership of 380,000.[11]

Track listing
Only Santa Knows track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Carol of the Bells"
  • Delta Goodrem
  • Matthew Copley
0:38
2."Only Santa Knows"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
  • Marla Altschuler
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
3:04
3."The Little Drummer Boy"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
3:33
4."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
2:58
5."Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"John Marks
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
3:37
6."River"Joni Mitchell
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
4:01
7."Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"Marks
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
2:47
8."White Christmas"Irving Berlin
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
3:29
9."Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
4:13
10."Deck the Halls"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
2:46
11."Grown-Up Christmas List"
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
3:57
12."Silent Night" (featuring Gurrumul)
  • Franz Xaver Gruber
  • Joseph Mohr
Michael Hohnen4:05
13."Merry Christmas to You" (featuring Olivia Newton-John)
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
  • Goodrem
  • Copley
2:45
Total length:41:49

Charts

Release history
List of release dates, showing formats, label and reference
Region Date Format Label Catalogue Ref.
Australia 12 November 2020
  • Streaming
  • digital download
 Sony Music Australia 19439826462 [14]
13 November 2020 CD [15]
11 December 2020 Vinyl 19439826461 [16]

References
  1. "Silent Night by Delta Goodrem and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu". The Guardian. December 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. "Delta Goodrem confirms exciting news". www.newidea.com.au. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. "Delta Goodrem On Having "The Freedom To Be A Little Eccentric Again"". Junkee. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  4. "Exclusive: Delta Goodrem Pushes Rewind On Her Career Hits". Grazia. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  5. "Delta Goodrem drops surprise Christmas album 'Only Santa Knows', featuring Gurrumul and Olivia Newton-John". NME. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. "Delta Goodrem performs 'Only Santa Knows' and chats about new Christmas album". 7News. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  7. "Delta Goodrem, 'Only Santa Knows' review". Stack.com.au. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  8. "INTERVIEW: Delta Goodrem". Thomas Bleach. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  9. "ARIA Top 50 Albums for week of 23 November 2020". www.aria.com.au. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  10. "Delta Goodrem reveals what to expect from her upcoming TV special Christmas with Delta". www.nine.com.au. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  11. "Christmas with Delta brings 380,000 metro viewers to Nine". The Music Network. December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  12. "Australiancharts.com – Delta Goodrem – Only Santa Knows". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  14. "Only Santa Knows by Delta Goodrem". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  15. "Only Santa Knows". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  16. "Only Santa Knows (Vinyl)". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
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