Mariah Carey, Khalid, Kirk Franklin - Fall in Love at Christmas

“Fall in Love at Christmas” is a 2021 song from Mariah Carey, Khalid, and Kirk Franklin that was featured on Carey’s 2021 holiday Apple TV special. It’s a slow mid-tempo song that features Carey and Khalid’s smooth R&B vocals along with Franklin’s gospel stylings towards the end. A love song about literally falling in love at Christmas, I enjoyed the feeling of longing that these three artists bring to this track. It’s a sleepy song that definitely grows on you after the first listen.

While not a well known song in these singers’ discographies, it was nice to see Carey work her holiday magic with artists she had never collaborated with before. Khalid’s sleepy vocals work perfectly with the slow production. The action picks up towards the last minute as Kirk Franklin enters and leads a gospel choir to a dramatic conclusion. As for Carey, her vocals sound the best that they have in years on this track. There’s very little belting and her voice remains at a delicate coo until she deploys her signature extended high note towards the end of the song.

If you’re into Carey’s 1994 album “Merry Christmas”, you probably won’t like the musical direction of this song. Carey’s voice has obviously undergone dramatic changes over the decades and her music has now veered towards slow R&B, both to accommodate her current vocal range and musical preferences. It may also be a bit too slow for the average Christmas music listener, with a BPM more in line with “Silent Night” than Carey’s past upbeat holiday songs like “Joy to the World”, “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, and “Oh Santa!”. It’s the perfect song to play at the end of a Christmas party when folks are packing up to leave and the fireplace is slowly but surely cooling off.