''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' is the fourth studio album by For King & Country, an Australian

Christian pop Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

duo comprising brothers Luke Smallbone and

Joel Smallbone Joel David Smallbone (born 5 June 1984) is an Australian singer and actor. He is a member of the Christian pop duo for King & Country along with his brother Luke Smallbone. He played the role of James Stevens in the 2016 film '' Priceless''. E ...

, released via

Word Entertainment Word Entertainment is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records. Word Entertainment represents Francesca Battistelli, for King & Country, Switchfoot, Skillet, Sidewalk Prophets, Chris ...

on 30 October 2020. It features appearances by

Needtobreathe Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass), Josh Lovelace (backing vocals, keys), Randall H ...

and

Gabby Barrett Gabby Barrett Foehner (born March 5, 2000) is an American country music singer. She finished third on the 16th season of ''American Idol''. Her debut single " I Hope" was the first top 10 Hot Country Songs debut by an unaccompanied woman sinc ...

. The album was produced by

Tedd T Tedd T., born Tedd Andrew Tjornhom (CHURN-home), is a music producer, songwriter, arranger, programmer, and engineer. He launched the independent record label Teleprompt Records in 2003 as a joint venture with Word/Warner Music Group. His interes ...

jornhom and For King & Country, co-produced by Benjamin Backus, and

Matt Hales Matthew Nicholas Hales (born 17 January 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer who has been performing professionally under the name Aqualung since the early 2000s. Aqualung is best known in the UK for his song "St ...

handling executive production. ''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' became a commercially successful album upon its release, debuting at No. 2 on ''Billboard'''s

Top Christian Albums Chart Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

in the United States. ''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' received nominations for the

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

Christmas / Special Event Album of the Year and Recorded Music Packaging of the Year at the 2021 GMA Dove Awards.

Background

In September 2020, For King & Country announced ''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' as their first full-length Christmas album, due to be out on 30 October 2020 and availing the album for pre-order. The album was inspired by a concept that originated near the band's beginning, when they Joel and Luke Smallbone were rehearsing for a Christmas tour. The album comprises two original Christmas songs: "Heavenly Hosts" and "The Carol of Joseph (I Believe In You)"; and contains guest appearances from

featuring on the track "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" while the song "Go Tell It On The Mountain" featuring guest vocals from

Release and promotion

Singles

On October 2, 2020, For King & Country announced that "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" featuring

and "

Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 19 ...

" would be serviced to

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

in the United States as the official singles from the album, revealing the album's track-listing. " Heavenly Hosts" was serviced to Christian radio stations in the United States on 3 November 2021, becoming the album's third single.

Promotional singles

On October 2, 2020, For King & Country released "Joy to the World" as the first promotional single from the album, accompanied with a lyric video. On October 16, 2020, For King & Country released "Heavenly Hosts" as the second and final promotional single from the album, accompanied with a lyric video.

Touring

Through November and December in the years of 2020–2023, the band toured around the United States and Canada in promotion of the album.

Reception

Critical response

Jesus Freak Hideout's John Underdown noted the oddity in following up a successful album ('' Burn the Ships'') with a holiday themed album, but acknowledged the band's success, saying: "Ultimately, what sets this album above its peers is the direction and purpose behind the songs picked and the way they're ordered. This thoughtfulness is felt and allows for deeper layers of reflection where other Christmas records only provide background fluff." In a positive review for NewReleaseToday, JJ Francesco opined that ''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' is "a reverent and intimate Christmas pageant of an album."

Accolades

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''A Drummer Boy Christmas'' earned 13,000 equivalent album units in its first week of sales, and as a result debuted at No. 2 on the

dated November 14, 2020, the band's sixth top ten release on the tally. The album concurrently registered on the mainstream ''Billboard'' 200 chart at No. 50.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drummer Boy Christmas, A 2020 albums 2020 Christmas albums For King & Country (band) albums