Christmas & Chill by Ariana Grande // 10 Year Anniversary Album Review + exclusive etched vinyl

- December 18, 2025

Released in 2015 as a sweet and unexpected interim EP between album cycles - about a year after My Everything and six months before Dangerous Woman - Christmas & Chill became one of Ariana Grande's most beloved projects in her discography. In fact, she even called it "...my favorite body of work" on Twitter in 2019.

Ariana recorded the entire project in less than a week at her home studio with her friends and frequent collaborators, including Victoria Monét, Tommy Brown, Ryan Tedder, and others. The idea for a full holiday project came after the success of "Santa Tell Me" the year prior, along with the rest of the Christmas Kisses EP, which was a mix of originals and refreshed classics.

The opening track, aptly titled "Intro", sets the tone immediately as she sings, "Welcome to this Christmas, only comes one time a year, don't miss this...let me sneak into your speakers, listen".

While inherently festive, the EP also feels like an extension of Ariana's usual sound in a way that allows much of this music to be listened to year-round. It blends the sounds she was experimenting with at the time and feels distinctly tied to this era of her career. Christmas & Chill blends R&B influences, with elements of trap and hip-hop, while still being anchored in pop. It carries a holiday aesthetic, but Ariana filters it through her own artistic sensibilities too. It's atmospheric and flirty rather than overly traditional.

Throughout these six songs, she leans into playful innuendo with a holiday twist. On "Wit It This Christmas" she sings, "Are you down for some of these milk and cookies? Down for lovin', you’ll be my drummer boy" and then on "Not Just On Christmas", she sings, "Baby, whether rain or shine, naughty or nice, I'm by your side".

A highlight is "True Love", Ariana's reinterpretation of the classic Christmas carol. "On that first day of Christmas when you gave me all them kisses, boy, you showed me things, come hold me, please, and never let me go," she sings in the first verse. She then goes through the six days of Christmas, with a really sweet ode hinting at her next album. At the time, her third album was tentatively being called Moonlight, before it was changed to Dangerous Woman. In the second verse, she sings, "After six days in your arms, I got that tattoo on my heart, 'cause I'm your moonlight, you're my star, ain't nothin' shinin' more than you".

The EP closes with "Winter Things", which is completely different than the rest, leaning into a folky ukulele-based style that offers a sweet variation at the end of the project.

To celebrate the decade release of Christmas & Chill, I wanted to spotlight the special vinyl variant I have in my collection. This forest-green pressing was released exclusively on her webstore in 2019. It's a favorite of mine to spin every holiday season, especially since it's one of my favorite projects she has ever released. Although it has been restocked many times through the years, this was the only variant of the EP to exist until the ten-year anniversary in 2025.

Side B features an etched design of the original album cover in a simplified style. It also comes with a clear PVC sleeve. I do wish it came with an actual photo sleeve, but that's common when it comes to etched and picture discs.

It features seven songs, including a secret hidden track at the end of the vinyl, which was so exciting to discover the first time I played it. It includes a previously unreleased "naughty" version of "Santa Tell Me" with slightly different lyrics. That version has since been officially released, but it is such a cool hidden gem to have included on this vinyl!