Christmas 'Round at Ours is the only Christmas album by the English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. The songs on the album were originally released on 5 December 2005 as a limited-edition bonus disc accompanying their third studio album, Chemistry.[1]
On 23 October 2025, the collection was released as a standalone album for the first time on streaming services and as a digital download, with CD and red vinyl formats following on 14 November 2025.[3] The new release by Fascination Records and Universal Music Group features remastered audio, new sleeve notes, archival photos, and a previously unreleased remix, "Not Tonight Santa (Christmas Party Mix)",[2] with the digital and streaming versions also including a radio edit of this mix.[1]
Cheryl Tweedy noted that the album was always intended to be titled Christmas 'Round at Ours, which inspired the "At home with Girls Aloud" theme of their Christmas TV advertisement that year. However, the title was ultimately left off the original 2005 release to avoid confusion, as it was only available as a bonus disc.[1]
Background and recording
According to band member Kimberley Walsh, the idea for a Christmas release came from their producer, Brian Higgins of Xenomania, as they were finalizing the Chemistry album. The record label expanded on the idea, suggesting a full Christmas album be packaged with Chemistry as a deluxe edition.[1]
The project had a very short turnaround. Nicola Roberts recalled that the group had only one week to record the entire album.[3] During that time, the group recorded four classic Christmas covers while the Xenomania team wrote four original Christmas songs. Roberts noted that the group chose to cover "Jingle Bell Rock" because of its use in the 2004 film, Mean Girls.[1] While the group recorded the covers, songwriters Miranda Cooper and Lisa Cowling wrote the four original Christmas songs in a single weekend."[1][3] For the album's credits, the production team used festive pseudonyms: Brian Higgins was credited as "S. Claws", Miranda Cooper as "Holly Bush", Lisa Cowling as "Beth Lehem", Tim Larcombe as "Yuell Logg", Shawn Lee as "Henry Mistletoe", and Tim "Rolf" Coler as "Festiv Gifts".
The cover image, shot on the same day as the cover image for Chemistry, was later celebrated by the National Portrait Gallery in London during Christmas 2023.[1][4]
Music and composition
The album consists of eight tracks, evenly split between four original songs and four covers of Christmas standards.[3] The original tracks, all written and produced by Xenomania, include "Christmas 'Round At Ours," "I Wanna Kiss You So (Christmas In A Nutshell)," "Count The Days," and "Not Tonight Santa."[3]
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