Christmas songs -- a hot trend in July

Halloween’s still three weeks away, but as far as the music industry is concerned, neither All Hallows Eve nor Thanksgiving gives anyone much reason to celebrate, business-wise. But Christmas is another story.

Starting as early as August in recent years, labels have unleashed an annual flood of holiday music, and this year is no exception, with new collections from crooner Michael Bolton, country traditionalist Randy Travis, R&B; veterans Patti LaBelle and the Isley Brothers, and alt-rock band Relient K.

It’s not unusual to find 50 or 60 new titles each year, the bulk of them Christmas-centric but also a handful dedicated to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other winter holidays.

Singer-songwriter Mindy Smith’s first such collection, “My Holiday,” will be released Tuesday, and in some respects it’s typical of the process necessary to have albums ready in time for the holidays.

“We recorded it in late June and July,” Smith, 35, said from her home in Nashville, shortly after returning from a 16-date national tour. “It was kind of strange. I brought in my little 15-inch luminescent silver tree that I put up every Christmas because I’m too lazy to put up a live tree. I brought that into the studio, and that was it.”

Getting into the spirit of holiday music in the middle of summer in Nashville wasn’t the only challenge facing Smith -- or others who record seasonal albums.

“I approached it like a true album,” says the musician, whose first two albums, “One Moment More” and “Long Island Shores,” earned plaudits from critics for their uncommon vulnerability and emotional complexity. “I didn’t want it to get lost among all the other Christmas albums. And I didn’t want people thinking, ‘Oh, she’s made a Christmas album -- isn’t that cute?’ ”

To that end, Smith wrote six original songs that examine the holidays the same way she’s explored feelings of loss or the joy of love in previous songs. Holiday standards round out the album.

The lucky few artists wind up with perennial favorites that reenter the chart each year. The all-time champ? No-brainer: Bing Crosby, whose “Merry Christmas” collection has charted 55 times since it came out in 1945. And it has logged a combined 39 weeks at No. 1 over the years. That’s a lot of chestnuts.

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randy.lewis@latimes.com