Ronan Keating releases Christmas album

Christmas has always been a special time of year for Irish crooner Ronan Keating, but this year particularly so.

Keating is releasing an album of songs inspired by his favourite time of year.

The album features Christmas classics like Silent Night and Little Drummer Boy, alongside songs like Bob Dylan's Ring Them Bells and The River by Joni Mitchell.

In Australia, the collection will be called Stay and in Europe the album will be known as Winter Songs.

"I didn't want it to be a Christmas album as such, more of a winter thing," Keating told AAP in Sydney.

"It's these cosy, emotional, melancholy songs I grew up listening to in winter at Christmas."

Keating said many of the songs on the album are tied to memories he holds dear.

"Christmas has always been important in our family - we always try to rally around each other and get the kids together," he said.

"Even as kids all the family would be together. But there was times when it was just my mum and dad and myself and my brothers and sisters had gone off and emigrated to America, and there was just some of the songs there were quite poignant."

The festive season will also be a sad time this year for Keating, who is still coming to terms with the sudden loss of his close friend and Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately.

Gately died of natural causes on October 10.

Keating said he almost called off his Australian visit, unsure how he would cope.

"I was a bit anxious to be honest about coming down and being away from the lads, but it's been lovely. The people here have been great," he said.

"I realised I had to get back to work at some stage. So I thought, let's try. I can always jump on a plane and come home after a day if I'm not happy, but it's been grand."

It's Keating's second visit to Australia in 2009, and he will be returning early in 2010 for a string of A Day on the Green shows at wineries around the country in January and February with Tina Arena.

After that he will be working hard on getting a new Boyzone album out, featuring vocals by Gately.

"We have a couple of songs with Stephen's vocal on it, so we're going to finish the album for Stephen," Keating said.

"Mika wrote the first single - brilliant beautiful song, and what a vocal from Stephen, it's amazing.

"I would like to have the album out for March next year, so pretty quick, but I need to be busy at the minute I think."

Stay is released on November 13.