Not So Silent Night is the eleventh studio album by German singer Sarah Connor. It was released on 18 November 2022 by Polydor Records.[1] Her second Christmas album after Christmas in My Heart (2005) and a follow-up to Herz Kraft Werke (2019), it marked Connor's first English language album since Real Love (2010).[2] A breakaway from most modern Christmas albums, the album omits cover versions of Christmas standards and carols, but instead features twelve original songs, co-written by Connor.

Not So Silent Night
Studio album by
Released18 November 2022 (2022-11-18)
Genre
Length41:12
LabelPolydor
Producer
Sarah Connor chronology
Herz Kraft Werke
(2019)
Not So Silent Night
(2022)
Singles from Not So Silent Night
  1. "Ring Out the Bells"
    Released: 4 November 2022

The album earned generally mixed reviews from music critic. It debuted at number one on the German Albums Chart, becoming Connor's third consecutive and fourth overall studio album to do so, and also entered the top ten of the charts in Austria and the top 20 in Switzerland. The release of Not So Silent Night was preceded by lead single "Ring Out the Bells." A reissue, entitled Not So Silent Night – The Cozy Edition, featuring three news songs, was released in November 2023.

Promotion

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On 13 November 2021, Connor released a new recording of the Robert Wells/Mel Tormé classic "The Christmas Song" and its music video as an Amazon Music original. The song, alongside "Don't You Know That It's Christmas", is included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album. Connor had previously recorded and performed the song in two versions, the first one being included on her first Christmas album Christmas in My Heart in 2005, the second one being part of the Christmas show in the first season of the German TV Show Sing meinen Song – Das Tauschkonzert in 2014. On 4 November 2022, "Ring Out the Bells" was released as the album's first official single.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
laut.de     [4]
mix17/8[5]
Der Vinylist     [6]

In her review for laut.de, Kerstin Kratochwill wrote that "the perfectly polished pop" on Not So Silent Night "shines like an over-decorated Christmas tree."[4] WDR 2 critic Oliver Rustemeyer found that Not So Silent Night is "also a typical Christmas album, but it not only sounds contemplative, but also wild and at least partly rocky."[7] Enwie Kej from Der Vinylist found that "the flow and impulsiveness of the first three songs is lost on the rest of the album. Of course, the work impresses with Sarah Connor's incredible voice and with a different album title the expectations would probably have been different. This leaves a nice Christmas album."[6] mix1 noted that that "the new songs vary in sound from a Motown feel to messages of peace and a countdown to the turn of the year."[5]

Chart performance

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Not So Silent Night debuted at number one on the German Albums Chart in the week of 25 November 2022.[8] It would mark Connor's third consecutive and fourth overall studio album to do so.[8] GfK Entertainment ranked it 44th on its 2002 year-end chart.[9] In November 2023, the album re-entered the chart at number eight, following the release of Not So Silent Night – The Cozy Edition.[8]

Track listing

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Not So Silent Night track listing[1]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Jolly Time of Year"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Nicolas Rebscher
2:03
2."Ring Out the Bells"
  • Connor
  • Nicolas Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:59
3."Not So Silent Night"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
2:45
4."Blame It On the Mistletoe"
  • Connor
  • Pascal Reinhardt
  • Joe Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
2:28
5."24th"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:24
6."(1, 2, 3, 4) Shots of Patron"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
2:59
7."Christmas 2066"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
3:18
8."Santa, If You're There"
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
3:03
9."Quiet White"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:56
10."Come Home"
  • Connor
  • Jones
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:42
11."I Think I'm in Love with You"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:04
Total length:34:26
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Don't You Know That It's Christmas"
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
2:31
13."The Christmas Song"
4:15
Total length:41:12

Not So Silent Night – The Cozy Edition[10]

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Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Jolly Time of Year"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
2:03
2."Ring Out the Bells"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:59
3."Christmas Train (Destination Hope)"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Rebscher
  • Connor
  • Jules Kalmbacher
  • Jens Schneider
  • Thomas Stieger
3:39
4."Not So Silent Night"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
2:45
5."I Wonder" (featuring Naturally 7)
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalmbacher
  • Jens Sprenger
2:57
6."Blame It On the Mistletoe"
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
2:28
7."24th"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:24
8."(1, 2, 3, 4) Shots of Patron"
  • Connor
  • Santos
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
2:59
9."Christmas 2066"
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
3:18
10."Santa, If You're There"
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
3:03
11."Quiet White"
  • Connor
  • Jones
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:56
12."Come Home"
  • Connor
  • Jones
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:42
13."I Think I'm in Love with You"
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
3:04
14."Don't You Know That It's Christmas"
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
  • Connor
  • Kalli
2:31
15."The Christmas Song"
  • Wells
  • Tormé
  • Rebscher
  • Tommy D
4:15
16."Happy New Year"
  • Connor
  • Kalmbacher
  • Sprenger
  • Stieger
4:02
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Jolly Time of Year" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
Karsten Roeder2:33
2."Blame It On the Mistletoe" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
Roeder2:35
3."The Christmas Song" (live 2022)
  • Wells
  • Tormé
Roeder4:35
4."Sleigh Ride" (live 2022)Roeder2:56
5."The Best Side of Life" (live 2022)
  • Marc Lennard
  • Jojo HF
Roeder3:55
6."24th" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
Roeder3:47
7."Christmas 2066" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
Roeder3:22
8."Quiet White" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Jones
  • Wolfgang
Roeder4:13
9."Christmas Medley" (live 2022)Roeder14:19
10."Santa, If You're There" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
Roeder3:22
11."Come Home" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Jones
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
Roeder3:48
12."Don't You Know That It's Christmas" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Reinhardt
  • Walter
Roeder3:49
13."(1, 2, 3, 4) Shots of Patron" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Santos
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
Roeder5:33
14."Ring Out the Bells" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Rebscher
  • Wolfgang
Roeder6:01
15."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (live 2022)Roeder3:30
16."Christmas in My Heart" (live 2022)
  • Rob Tyger
  • Kay Denar
Roeder5:40
17."Not So Silent Night" (live 2022)
  • Connor
  • Zuckowski
  • Wolfgang
Roeder5:16
Total length:131:16

Notes

Charts

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Release history

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Release dates and formats for Not So Silent Night
Region Date Edition(s) Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 19 November 2022 Standard Polydor [1]
17 November 2023 The cozy edition [10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Not So Silent Night by Sarah Connor". Apple Music. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  2. ^ Emmers, Kevin R. (4 November 2022). "Sarah Connor veröffentlicht mit "Ring Out The Bells" den ersten Vorboten auf ihr Weihnachtsalbum "Not So Silent Night"". frontstage-magazine.de (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Ring Out the Bells by Sarah Connor". Spotify. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Kratochwill, Kerstin. "Der perfekt polierte Pop glänzt wie ein überdekorierter Weihnachtsbaum". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Sarah Connor präsentiert Weihnachtsalbum "Not So Silent Night – The Cozy Edition"". mix1.de (in German). 2 December 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b Kej, Enwie (19 December 2022). "Review: Sarah CONNOR – Not So Silent Night". mix1.de (in German). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  7. ^ Rustemeyer, Oliver (2 December 2022). "Sarah Connor - Not So Silent Night". wdr.de (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d "Offiziellecharts.de – Sarah Connor – Not So Silent Night" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 2022" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Sarah Connor, Not So Silent Night – The Cozy Edition (2CD)". bravado.de. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Sarah Connor – Not So Silent Night" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Sarah Connor – Not So Silent Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Jahrescharts 2023 Album" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 10 December 2023.