Leslie Odom, Jr.鈥檚 life is a bit of a whirlwind at the moment. The 2016 Tony Award winner just moved cross-country, he鈥檚 working on the Kenneth Branagh鈥揾elmed Murder on the Orient Express remake, and he鈥檚 expecting his first child with wife Nicolette Robinson. Somewhere between booking big movie roles and packing, Odom, Jr. found the time to record a holiday album, Simply Christmas. Here鈥檚 what he has to share with 半岛体育 about the album, the season, and his other recent adventures.
So, why a holiday album?
Leslie Odom, Jr.: It sounded like a no-brainer. I figured we鈥檇 just get in the studio and I鈥檇 sing some Christmas songs. Why not? But it was actually really difficult. When I first got the masters back, I hated it. It just wasn鈥檛 finished, so we rerecorded it. I love the album now. It went from wanting to hang my head in shame to something that I鈥檓 really excited for people to hear.
The album sounds so personal, like you鈥檙e singing the song to one person. Did you think of them that way?
LOJ: When I sing on an album, I think of it as a one-on-one experience. Not to get cheesy, but I had just found out that Nicolette was pregnant, so I thought a lot about our kid. This had to sound like something that we would want to listen to around the holidays with our family.
Many of the songs on the album have been sung by iconic vocalists. Did you feel any pressure?
LOJ: That was the tricky part. I could get up at a party and sing any of these songs, and that鈥檚 how I approached the vocal booth. But then I listened to it and realized that nobody wants to listen to what I actually sound like at a Christmas party after some eggnog. It forced me to put the vocals under a microscope and strip away a lot of the falsity that comes with singing holiday music. There鈥檚 something about the music that can bend toward the dishonest. So it was a challenge trying to find out what 鈥淢erry Christmas Darling鈥� meant to me. It was daunting.
What鈥檚 the difference between acting and being a recording artist, in terms of what you get out of it?
LOJ: If you have any kind of inclination toward being a control freak, it helps to have a side project. I found that I was increasingly frustrated as an actor. Projects were difficult for me because I felt like I wanted more control. If you鈥檙e coming to see me in concert, if you鈥檙e buying my album, I am singing and saying exactly what I want to say, in the way that I want to say it.
Do you have a favorite holiday memory?
LOJ: When I was five, I was still an only child and my parents went all out. I remember being exhausted by how many presents I was opening. That was the Christmas I got a tape recorder. It鈥檚 a full-circle moment, sitting here talking to you about my Christmas album. Because there would be no Christmas album if it wasn鈥檛 for that tape recorder. That was the beginning of my singing training, me recording myself singing, then going back and trying to fix it.
Are you a last-minute shopper or do you prepare?
LOJ: I never intend to be, but I am a last-minute shopper. That鈥檚 part of the fun. I think there鈥檚 part of me that enjoys that danger.
You now have an album of standards and a holiday album. Can we expect an album of originals?
LOJ: I want to experiment with originals, whether I鈥檓 writing them or someone else is. I got that experience with the Hamilton score. Those were songs that nobody else had ever sung before, and I got to see what that felt like, to create the version of 鈥淒ear Theodosia鈥� that will last forever. It鈥檚 a wonderful feeling.
Where do you keep your Tony Award?
LOJ: Right now it鈥檚 in my book bag, wrapped in bubble wrap because we just moved. Eventually we plan to have a special place for it.
