[1] An extensive list of additional and assistant engineers were enlisted in the production of the track: Brett "Snacky" Pierce, Scott Risett, Kenta Yonesaka, Alex Guapera, Charlie Paakkari, Tim Lauber, Tom Steel, Greg Dennon, Denis St.

[1] The ballad begins with Carey singing "Oh, Christmas time is in the air again" in her "whisper register", backed by a string section performed by Mike Valerio on the upright bass and George Doering playing the guitar.

[1][2][3] Other instrumentalists who performed on the bell and chime embellished track were Victor Indrizzo on the drums and Luis Conte on percussion.

[6] He continued to write that it is "a sweeping big-band ballad that you'd swear was a cover from some Judy Garland movie you didn't pay that much attention to once.

[7] Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone simply described the orchestration of the original compositions "One Child" and "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" as overwhelmingly Christmasy".

[8] In her 2012 single review of the song, Entertainment Focus writer Pip Ellwood awarded "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" four out of a possible five stars.

[2] Ellwood concluded her review by writing that the release of the song two years after that of Merry Christmas II You should "get it some more well-deserved attention".