The ‘Philly Special’ Christmas EP is finally here and although it can be tricky to find on Apple Music and Spotify, it’s well worth the search. We’ve included a link at the bottom of this article to the entire thing on Spotify so you and the Eagles fans in your life can get ready for Christmas together!
I’m English, however, and there is nobody around me to share in this masterpiece. So I decided to jot down my thoughts on each song and share them with you.
Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson came together recently with the help of Connor Barwin to put together ‘A Philly Special Christmas’. The EP was created to raise money for the CCTC which looks after children who have suffered abuse and trauma. The vinyl ended up generating over $250,000 in sales, according to the Inquirer, far exceeding their initial expectations.
Santa Claus is coming to town
The conversational parts of this song are excellent. Jason Kelce name-dropping different areas of the City, the references to ‘throwing snowballs at Santa Clause’, and the oomph when Kelce first belts out the word ‘Santa’ really puts a smile on your face.
The cameos from Jalen Hurts and A.J Brown are perfect, with Jalen saying he wants a Super Bowl for Christmas. There’s then a joke made about even wishing both Dallas and South Jersey a Merry Christmas!
The pacing of the song is great and they somehow found a way to put their own unique spin on it with each verse. Every part of the song feels special in its own way and it just makes you want to listen to it over and over to properly soak it all in.
White Christmas
Jordan Mailata steals the show here. The whole song feels like a gradual build-up to one incredible verse, loading the bases for Mailata to knock it so far out of the park that you find your jaw on the floor even after the second and third listen. This is a great song made even better by Mailata’s versatile vocals and a saucy Saxophone solo that really just adds a cozy mood to the whole thing.
Christmas (Baby please come home)
This is a personal favorite of mine so I was keen to see what the charismatic trio would do with it. Jordan Mailata’s vocals suit this song perfectly, but then again, you could say that about literally any song on the planet. The vocal solos here are amazing and add so much character to the song.
Merry Christmas Baby
This would fit perfectly in any Hallmark Christmas Movie as the opening credits gently fall on a backdrop of the Philadelphia skyline. If anyone uses this idea, I want royalties. It’s such a feel-good song, and one I hadn’t actually heard before now. After listening to the original by Sheryl Crow, I easily prefer this. It was nice hearing some female vocals on this too, with Lady Alma absolutely smashing it. It almost gives off ‘Islands in the stream’ energy from Gavin and Stacey. If you haven’t seen that episode, go and watch it.
Blue Christmas
The opening note reminded me of a Spongebob scene and I feel like it tarnished every second after that. I could only think of Spongebob being sad. That’s not fun.
Anyway, the song itself is solid. It’s one of the few times we get to hear Lane Johnson’s isolated vocals and make no mistake, he’s got some pipes too.
The song has a more ‘country’ vibe to it unlike the very boppy festive theme that fits the rest of the EP, but it’s a nice change of pace.
Silent Night
It starts off pretty normal as a softening sound of christmas caroling level vocals warm the ears on a cold December evening. Then they snuck something in. About a minute in, instead of singing the ‘Silent Night’, song they just started spelling out E-A-G-L-E-S. Masterpiece. It’s rare that a song makes you laugh and this was so unexpected, what a perfect addition.
While all three pressings of the vinyl sold out in minutes, you can visit the Childrens Crisis Treatment Center website here to make a donation to the charity.
Photo Credit: https://phillyspecialchristmas.com
