'Of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a million seasonal releases.'

George Luke reviews the best new releases from the Christian music scene released for Christmas

Use the links to buy the albums from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid will receive part of the sale price

“It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming,” sing South African rockers Tree 63 on the title track of their new album, Sunday!

Yes, it’s an obvious Easter reference and we’re looking forward to Christmas. But it’s a great, if somewhat moody, opener to the set.

Sunday! is produced by Joe Baldridge, whose CV includes work with Beck, Family Force Five and ex-Dum Dums singer Josh Doyle.

The Delirious influences are still very much present in Tree 63’s sound – which is probably the album’s undoing. Good though Sunday! is, you do feel like you’ve heard it all before.

That said, “The Revolution” (the album’s closing track) is the most rousing call to social action I’ve heard this year.

Trin-I-Tee 5:7

After a four-year absence, R&B gospel trio Trin-I-Tee 5:7 make a welcome return with T57. And if they sound even more like Destiny’s Child than before, it could be because they’re now managed by Matthew Knowles (Beyoncé’s father/manager).

T57 has all the elements you’d expect a half-decent R&B album to have: vocal gymnastics aplenty, the right balance between funky jams and mellow ballads, a classily done cover (of R. Kelly’s “You Saved Me”)… the only thing missing is a song about umbrellas.

“Like U” – written by Knowles’ other singing daughter, Solange – puts a new spin on the male-bashing female R&B acts have regularly dished out since TLC’s “No Scrubs”.

Rather than just do a hatchet job on the men in their lives, the ladies list all their good qualities, then add “but he could never love me like you.”

Great - they’re not saying all men are without a father, just that even the good ones aren’t as good as God! As Homer Simpson once said to Marge, “There you go again, always taking someone else’s side. Flanders, the water department, God…”

Of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a million seasonal releases. So here’s a quick scan of the pick of this year’s crop…

Dubious

Former model turned gospel diva Yolanda Adams celebrates her recent signing to Columbia with What a Wonderful Time.

It starts off rather dubiously with “My Favourite Things” from The Sound of Music re-done as a smooth jazz ballad, but then settles into being a pretty cool jazz album. The title track offers the best Christmas advice I’ve heard in ages: “Forget about the diet, girlfriend!”

Michael W Smith’s It’s a Wonderful Christmas was recorded at Abbey Road with four choirs and a 65-piece orchestra. Mandisa, American Idol also-ran and Gospel’s current hot new thing, joins Michael for a duet on “Christmas Day”.

Relient K’s Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer is a mixture of peppy garage band workouts of popular seasonal songs, plus a few originals.

Not bad – but someone needs to explain to them that the Hallelujah Chorus isn’t “Handel’s Messiah”, just the end of it (and while you’re setting them straight on that, please tell them what partridges and pear trees are).

If you bought Hillsong’s Celebrating Christmas last year, or any of Integrity’s previous Christmas albums, you may find you already own huge chunks of their Songs 4 Worship: Christmas double CD.

But it does feature Israel & New Breed doing an unusual – and somewhat out of place – version of the Nutcracker Suite (I know it invokes Christmassy feelings in some people. But what’s the worship connection?).

On the “not necessarily seasonal, but would make a great gift” tip, you could do worse than buy Amy Grant’s Greatest Hits CD, or Third Day’s Chronology: Vol. 2 CD/DVD package.

And ahead of Delirious’ big new album release next year, Furious Records have re-packaged the D-boys’ back catalogue as a series of double CDs.

Happy Christmas.

Use the following links to buy one or more of the albums from amazon.co.uk and Christian Aid receives part of the sale fee

• Tree 63 – Sunday!

• Trin-I-Tee 5:7 – T57

• Yolanda Adams – What a Wonderful Time

• Michael W Smith – It’s a Wonderful Christmas

• Relient K – Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer

• Various – Songs 4 Worship: Christmas Joy

• Amy Grant – Greatest Hits (Audio CD only)

• Amy Grant - Import CD/DVD package

• Delirious – Cutting Edge One & Two/Three & Fore

• Delirious – Live & In the Can/King of Fools

• Delirious – Glo/Mezzamorphis

• Third Day – Chronology, Vol. 2

• Read other Tunes columns