User:JuneGloom07/Pianoman

The Pianoman At Christmas is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum. The album, which is Cullum's first full-length Christmas-themed record, was released on 20 November 2020 by Island Records in Europe and Blue Note Records in the United States. Produced by Greg Wells, the standard version of The Pianoman At Christmas contains ten original songs penned by Cullum. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and features 57 musicians. The album was preceded by the release of lead single "Turn On The Lights".

Background and conception
Cullum released his ninth studio album Taller in 2019, and he was in the middle of a tour when the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to cancel the remaining dates. Cullum began writing songs for his first Christmas and tenth studio album during the UK's lockdown period at his home in London. He told Roisin O'Connor of The Independent that his wife Sophie Dahl had encouraged him to write a Christmas album for a number of years and was "a big part" of the writing. He was also inspired by his appearance on Robbie Williams's 2019 album The Christmas Present. On 9 October 2020, Cullum announced that The Pianoman At Christmas would be released the following month.

The title of the album was inspired by a song Cullum wrote for it, originally called "There's Always a Job for a Piano Man at Christmas". The cover shows Cullum and Dahl "curled up" in the back of a car, which was being driven at night through London. Cullum said he wanted the cover to "reflect the cinematic feel of the music" and portray a couple coming home from a Christmas party. Cullum also said the photograph captured "a genuine moment" between him and his wife, and was a better representation of the album's songs instead of an image of himself in front of a Christmas tree.

Inspiration and writing
During planning for the album, Island Records suggested to Cullum that half the record should be cover versions of existing Christmas songs, as they felt his audience enjoyed his interpretations, but Cullum thought that was "too easy" and did not want to do the same as everyone else. Without access to a studio due to the pandemic, Cullum began writing down his ideas for songs in a notebook, also including phrases from artwork and conversations about Christmas.

"How Do You Fly" tells the story of a child growing up and questioning "if they have any place in the world", which Cullum thought many listeners could relate to.

"The Pianoman at Christmas" was originally called "There's Always a Job for a Piano Man at Christmas", but Cullum thought it was a "terrible title" and harder to sing. He had wanted a song that reflected a period in his 20s and 30s when he would perform Christmas songs in various bars throughout December. He explained "I used to think of myself as Jack Baker from The Fabulous Baker Boys, the Jeff Bridges character in love with Michelle Pfeiffer. That led to the phrase, 'I thought I could be your man, but I'm just the piano man at Christmas,' And that scanned a lot better. I said, 'I'm not going to escape the Billy Joel reference, so why not just go with it?'"

Track listing
All songs produced by Jamie Cullum, Greg Wells, and Tom Richards

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Pianoman At Christmas.