Chris Kamara to "save" Christmas with new album And A Happy New Year

Chris Kamara is to release another festive album this year, vowing to "save" the Christmas season with the collection.

The football pundit and TV presenter's new album And A Happy New Year will be released on Friday, November 27. It will feature eight covers including swing/big band versions of Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, White Christmas by Bing Crosby, and Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas.

And A Happy New Year also features two original songs Mr Claus and A Happy New Year, written specifically for Chris (who coincidentally celebrates his birthday on Christmas Day) by Richard Scott and Kelvin Andrews who penned songs for Robbie Williams’ 2019 Number 1 album The Christmas Present.

On his Twitter account, the Ninja Warrior UK host explained that due to COVID-19 the different instrumentation sections were recorded remotely, with strings sent in from Bulgaria.

Tall order to beat last years number 8 in the official charts, 2 brand news songs & 8 classic covers.Due to Covid couldn’t record with the Big Band😷 sections had to record on different days (rhythm one day, brass next, etc)String section was recorded remotely in Sofia, Bulgaria https://t.co/GAillaBgce

— Chris Kamara (@chris_kammy) October 14, 2020

Chris told the Daily Mirror that he is more "Buble than Bing", adding: "I’m sure lots of people are thinking Christmas might be cancelled but it won’t be. We have to make the most of it. I’ll save Christmas.”

Chris' debut album Here's To Christmas - which featured covers of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - peaked at Number 8 on the UK's Official Albums Chart last November and spent six weeks on chart, shifting 25,000 copies.