Mariah Carey Is Releasing A New Christmas Album — Sort Of

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas — it’s almost the time of year when it becomes seasonally acceptable to listen to holiday tunes on loop. And in honor of the 25th anniversary of Merry Christmas, Mariah Carey is re-releasing her iconic Christmas album.

Carey announced the rerelease of her Christmas album with an enthusiastic tweet and a short accompanying video on Sept. 23. The clip opens with Mimi facing a mirror, which appears to be covered in words written with lipstick. Upon further inspection, it quickly becomes clear that each of the words on the mirror — "25," "Christmas," "November 1," etc. — signifies something particularly special about her upcoming album.

"This is so exciting," Carey exclaimed in the video. "November 1st, we have merch, new stuff — you can preorder it now for ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’ I’m almost ready. Not quite ready to celebrate Christmas yet," she added with a grin, "but that’s what we’re talking about, baby," she said, while underlining the word "Christmas" with even more lipstick.

Carey then explained that it’s the 25th anniversary of Merry Christmas, aka, the 1995 LP that gave the world "All I Want For Christmas Is You." And, in honor of the occasion, she’ll be releasing a "special 2CD Deluxe Anniversary Edition" of the album, as per her tweet, and it’s definitely going to have more than a few goodies for her fans to enjoy.

The deluxe anniversary edition of Merry Christmas will include a bonus disc, and will consist of several previously-unreleased live tracks from Carey’s 1994 performance at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, which was a benefit concert for the Fresh Air Fund. The album will also feature a brand new rendition of "Sugar Plum Fairy" as well, and a few remixes of old favorites.

As for the new merchandise up for grabs on her official website, there’s a short-sleeve shirt with her Merry Christmas cover on the front, a long-sleeve shirt with a cartoon-version of Carey all dressed up like Mrs. Claus, and a hooded sweatshirt with "Mariah Carey" and "Merry Christmas" scrawled down the arms. Fans can even buy a stocking that’s fully dedicated to "All I Want For Christmas Is You," or a "MC" beanie with a cute, fuzzy pom-pom.

Carey might be gearing up for a new Christmas release, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to start celebrating the Holidays just yet. In fact, we’ve still got more than a month to go before Carey says it’s cool to start firing on all Christmas-related cylinders. She clarified as much a few weeks back, after Katharine McPhee shared a video of her lip-syncing to "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and tagged the star on Twitter.

"summer is OFFICIALLY over," McPhee wrote. "@MariahCarey, is it time?" Carey responded by retweeting the video, writing, "Not yet! Let’s get through Halloween first," followed by an emoji face with its tongue sticking out.

If you’re really itching to start decking the halls now, that’s certainly your prerogative. Just know that it’s not officially Christmas time until Mariah Carey says so.

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