Lea Michele's First Christmas Album Is Basically a Mini Glee Reunion, and It's So Festive

By Chanel Vargas
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Happy holidays! Lea Michele just released her first Christmas album, and it's basically a mini Glee reunion (aka the best Christmas gift ever). Christmas in the City ($12) is inspired by Michele's childhood memories of spending the holidays in New York, the former Glee star told People. "I am finally able to share this with you! #ChristmasInTheCity coming soon," the actress and singer captioned her Instagram post revealing the cover of the 11-track album, which shows her posing in a red gown à la Carrie Bradshaw. "Can't wait to get into the holiday spirit with you guys."

Michele, who just married her husband, Zandy Reich, in March, said she's at a very happy time in her life, so releasing the album just "made sense." "It was always my dream to make a Christmas record," Michele said. "Christmas is so special to me. It's such an important time of year for me and my family that I have so many incredible memories from."

If you're in NYC, you can also get tickets to see Michele perform her entire Christmas album live at the Concert Hall at New York Society For Ethical Culture from Dec. 19-Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m each night.

"It paints this beautiful picture of New York, but it also is really about what it means to be with your family and friends."

Christmas in the City's tracklist includes a mix of Michele's favorite holiday songs, including "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from Disney's Frozen, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Silver Bells," "Silent Night," and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." "These are the songs that I always listen to on Christmas . . . 'It's Christmas Time in the City' really became the jumping off point for this album, Christmas in the City, because I grew up in New York, and it's such a beautiful time of year," she said.

Michele is joined by two of her former Glee costars on the album, Darren Criss ("White Christmas") and Jonathan Groff ("I'll Be Home For Christmas"), as well as British actress Cynthia Erivo ("Angels We Have Heard on High"). The album also features an original song by Michele titled "Christmas in New York," and you can watch the video for her original holiday song above. "I wrote this song as my real love letter," she said. "It's the anthem of the album, and it just highlights all of the special things New York has to offer. It paints this beautiful picture of New York, but it also is really about what it means to be with your family and friends and engaged in that holiday spirit."

In addition to releasing her Christmas album, Michele will also perform at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 2019 Christmas in Rockefeller Center event, and star in ABC's Same Time, Next Christmas, which will air on Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. ET. "If you like rom-coms, if you like Christmas movies, you will enjoy it," she said. "It's sweet and heartfelt and beautiful to look at. I can't wait to see it."