Multi ARIA award-winning performer and one of Australia’s most successful and recognisable entertainers, Christine Anu, will release a new album on November 7 titled Island Christmas. In the lead up to the release, the title track, Island Christmas, is available for preview on SoundCloud, along with Carol of the Drum – Peace on Earth, featuring Jay Laga’aia.The festive-themed album is a first for Christine, delivered in her beautiful signature style. It features duets with artists including The Voice finalist, Steve Clisby, and much loved actor, presenter, children’s entertainer and father, Jay Laga’aia. The song list comprises a selection of Christmas classics, personally selected by Christine for their significance in her own family’s life, including Carol of the Drum, River and a spectacular rendition of Silent Night.
The new album will also include the title track Island Christmas, featuring Christine’s children Kuiam and Zipporah, whose captivating young voices can be heard in the vocal arrangement.
Like Christine’s smash hit, My Island Home, that was awarded the APRA ‘Song of the Year’ in 1995, the new album and title track is set to resonate with a nation that celebrates a distinct Christmas to the rest of the world – in the sunshine, enjoying the exuberant and festive summer holiday spirit.
Lyrics to the title track Island Christmas include:
Gather ‘round now.
It’s Christmas in the land of the Dreamtime.
Southern Cross twinkling up in the sky.
Island Christmas.
My Island Christmas.
“I wrote the title track when my kids and their friends and cousins were quite young – we love singing – and I’d always get them to sing along with me. So even though they’re now a lot older, the inclusion of their voices on the album is incredibly nostalgic for me – it’s what Christmas is all about, in creating and recalling special memories each year,” said Christine.
“The song is a little tongue-in-cheek, with Aussie slang sound bites from Australian poetry and prose, conjuring up images of a unique summer Christmas spent at the beach, with family and friends, meeting up again for that one special time of the year.”
It is Christine Anu’s exceptional ability to communicate to all ages and walks of life via her music, entertaining and philanthropic ventures that will ensure her new album is embraced in the home of all Australians.
Christine Anu has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning over two decades in the entertainment industry, as a singer/songwriter, television personality, children’s entertainer, actor, theatrical performer, and dancer. The multi-platinum selling artist has won five ARIA Music Awards and has been nominated for 16 Awards, and appears in internationally acclaimed films includingMoulin Rouge and The Matrix Reloaded.
As a proud Torres-Strait Islander, Christine lends her support to multiple charitable organisations including as patron for Buk Bilong Pikinini, to improve literacy for Papua New Guinea’s disadvantaged children. She’s also an ambassador for Make A Wish Foundation, and is actively involved with other charities including Oasis Foundation, Unity Foundation, Catherine Freeman Foundation, Mater Foundation and Diabetes Australia.
The release of Island Christmas comes off the back of Christine Anu’s recent signing to Australian independent record label, Social Family Records – a growing independent label that passionately and proudly works with Australian artists including Baby Animals, Damien Leith, The Dead Daisies, Steve Balbi and David Campbell via his label, Luckiest Records.