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Acclaimed up-and-coming singer-songwriter Bella Rios gifts music fans with her invitingly intimate take on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Rios wraps you in a gentle, caressing embrace, paying homage to Judy Garland’s indestructible 1944 performance as only she can.
Rios’ voice is velvety smooth and precise, floating effortlessly from sensitive, somber verses to soaring high notes that sparkle with emotion. Each turn of phrase seems purposeful, yet easily tossed off, the flourishes of a seasoned expert in an ascending career. Propelled along by the skillful production of GRAMMY-winning engineer Geoff Sanoff (Colbert Christmas, Bruce Springsteen, and Jesse Malin, to name a few), Rios balances lush instrumentation with an airy, whimsical intimacy that perfectly encapsulates the holiday season.
This version is not so much a replica of the recognizable as a reimagining. There’s an optimistic, unifying spirit to Rios’ interpretation, a feeling that this song, as sung here, isn’t just a holiday perennial but an earnest call for those listening to come together and take stock, and celebrate. And that soulful, expressive delivery of hers isn’t simply fresh, so much as timeless and yet completely now.
Rios demonstrates that her holiday repertoire is as stylistically dynamic as it is emotionally evocative. With this cover, she establishes herself as an emerging voice that can reinvigorate classics while paying tribute to those who have come before.