Ally Brooke – Under The Tree EP | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Snafu Records

Release Date: December 1st 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Ally Brooke– Under The Tree EP (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (feat. Dinah Jane)
Under The Tree
White Christmas
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The beauty about Christmas music is that so, so many artists release Christmas music- that you’d take the leap of… faith? Or something… and you’d listen to artists you wouldn’t normally listen to. You’d listen to an artist that you may have a passing interest in, and perhaps the fact that they’ve released a Christmas album is the opening you need. For me, I was listening to Christian music for a long time. I still am. But since Jon’s and my blog series, I have been branching out and listening to more and more different types of music- and being ministered to any type of music that God imprints on my heart. But, I’ve got to say, that over the past couple of Christmases, my repertoire of music has widened even more- and it has been due to the fact that I can unashamedly listen to artists I wouldn’t normally though; because of the fact that it is a Christmas album. Listening to Christmas albums has opened my eyes to the fact that not all music artists whom I stereotypically assumed were ‘bad’, are actually ‘bad’. If you’ve read our reviews lately about Christmas music, you can see that we’ve reviewed albums over the past few years, from many different artists. From artists like Pentatonix, Kristin Chenoweth, Teddy Swims, Brett Eldredge, Maddie & Tae, Meghan Trainor, Blake Shelton, Tommee Profitt, *NSYNC, Ronan Keating, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, Hanson, Runaway June, Walker Hayes, Bryan Adams, Sara Evans, Andrea Bocelli, Sugarland, Rachel Wammack, and Leslie Odom Jr to name a few. These artists, and more, weren’t even close to the kind of music I was listening to 5 years ago. And it goes to show that one album can really change your outlook on music for the better- because all of these artists are inspiring, comforting and hopeful. And as such, now I’m much more aware of what’s out there. Fast forward to now, and given that we’re still in the Christmas spirit, it’s time to dive into another Christmas project. Ally Brooke, formerly of Fifth Harmony, has released a Christmas EP titled Under The Tree, and this release is enjoyable… but is it impacting and long-lasting?

When Camila Cabello left girl-group Fifth Harmony in 2016 to embark on a solo career… I would have to say that long-time fans were feeling betrayed, angry, and possibly disappointed. Later on, the group dissolved in 2018 as the remaining 4 members wanted to venture out and record solo albums… but was Camila leaving actually a driving force in the group splitting? Would the group still be here today if Camilla hadn’t gone the solo route first? I wasn’t a fan of Fifth Harmony nor Camila back then- and even now I’m not that much of an avid fan. I can appreciate good music though, and objectively Camila as a solo artist and Fifth Harmony as a short-lived band are way too popular for me to be putting my head in the sand about them any longer! And thus, here we are as we reviewed Camila’s 2022 album Familia; and while each of the other four members haven’t had as long-lasting success as Camila (none of them have release a debut full length studio album yet!), Ally’s Christmas EP is a welcome addition to my playlists, as I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed these 5 songs.

As far as EP’s go, this is pretty standard. “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (a solo version plus a duet with fellow Fifth Harmony alum Dinah Jane) and “White Christmas” are instantly recognisable, of which these renditions remind me of a warm mug of hot chocolate and a tender hug from a family member or a best friend; while “Under The Tree” is a fun-filled original that speaks about feeling that special love from someone during Christmas. Under The Tree isn’t groundbreaking. But it is solid and does tie us over until Ally’s long-awaited full length debut album. This release may not be on everyone’s playlist. But will we ever skip these songs if they do appear as background music. probably not. Well done Ally Brooke for a magical and fun release; I can’t wait for your debut album, whenever it arises.

[‘Under The Tree’] is such a fun, upbeat one that I know my fans are going to fall in love with! It means joy and love to me, being with your loved ones and having love in your heart. For me, it’s really cute. It’s really fun. I didn’t write it — there are these fantastic writers that wrote it. I just heard it and was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s so cute. Let me record it.” But I love it because it’s really upbeat and fun, and it’s saying ‘I’m under the tree, I’m your gift,’ so I love that.

It’s been amazing [listeners reacting to “Gone To Bed”]. I took about a year off for myself for my mental health. I really just found a lot of self-discovery. I sifted through what I wanted in my life and who I wanted in my life, and I put together a team for myself who I just feel so confident in — who I love, who love me, who believe in me. I believe in them, and I recently reconnected with Joey, who was Fifth Harmony’s former A&R, and he was the missing piece that I needed.

Between him and all of my team, I just felt the timing was right to finally release something. So, I released “Gone to Bed,” and as soon as I heard it, I loved it. I fell in love with the concept and the music and the lyrics. I felt it was very me, and it was what I wanted to represent me. Having fans love it is just really fantastic.

I’m in the early stages of recording [the debut album], but it’ll definitely fit the vibe and the theme, so you’ll hear more influences of “Gone to Bed” in my future records. You could expect more pop for sure. I was doing Latin, but I’m more focused on English and pop, but who knows? Maybe there’ll be some Latin elements to it. I’d love to have some really in-depth features. I think that will be really fun, so you can expect a mixture of sounds and collaborators.