Katharine McPhee recording Christmas album

Katharine McPhee has revealed that she is recording a Christmas album.

The former American Idol contestant admitted that she has been looking forward to releasing a holiday record since before she became famous.

"For someone who dreamed of being an artist and is a huge lover of Christmastime and the holiday season, I'm just so excited," she told Pop Eater.

"[I love] all of them, 'A Christmas Song' - the one that goes 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire' - 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. I love all of the songs."

She added that the album may even contain an original song that she wrote herself.

"At the moment we're doing some tweaking on the lyrics, so it could change, but right now [the title is] 'It's Not Christmas Without You'," she explained.

"I didn't set out to write something that could be on Top 40 radio. I wanted something that felt maybe just as classic as 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. I'm not much of an uptempo songwriter. I have a hard time writing songs that are uptempo, so this one is a ballad, really beautiful melodically."

McPhee's Christmas record is tentatively scheduled for an October release.