Jennifer Hudson feels 'most connected' to her Christmas album

Jennifer Hudson admits her new Christmas LP is the record she feels "the most connected to out of all my albums".

The 'American Idol' alum just dropped the Yuletide collection 'The Gift of Love', and even though it mostly features covers of Xmas classics, the 43-year-old singer says some of the songs are deeply personal to her and her family.

She told GRAMMY.com: "I feel the most connected to this album out of all my albums, and very much for those reasons. It reflects me in some way. Obviously with covers, we don’t write them, we sing them, but they’re connected to my family traditions.

"My grandmother used to love 'The Christmas Song' and I remember her saying, ‘The man with the satin voice,’ about Nat King Cole, so that inspired me to do that song. And 'Drummer Boy,' the way we approached it I’m showing you my roots of where I came from musically.

"So in this album, whether it’s musically or lyrically, my story shows up. Even with 'O Holy Night,' I would make a different arrangement every year and pass it out to my family, so that had to be on there. But this year, I get to give my family a whole album instead of just one song."

The 'Dreamgirls' star teased she has a special episode dedicated to the album planned for her eponymous-titled daytime talk show, as well as her 'The Gift of Love: An Intimate Live Experience' tour.

She said: "This is gonna be the biggest Christmas ever. I can't wait, I'm so excited. I’m planning a special episode dedicated to the album as we speak. We're gonna do some of the music from it, kind of like a listening party, but it’ll be like coming to my house for the holidays. Same goes for my holiday tour this year as well, it'll be a very intimate experience. We're gonna have a holiday, musical good time."