Only Santa Knows

In December 2019, Goodrem announced she was "living in a music bubble", working on her sixth studio album.[2]

2020 saw Goodrem release numerous stand-alone singles including "Let It Rain", "Keep Climbing" and "Paralyzed", the latter two then being referred to as singles from an upcoming sixth studio album of original material. She described album upon the release of "Paralyzed" to be "a nod to [my old stuff] sonically speaking in terms of what I was listening to, and getting re-inspired by", further adding "I needed to kind of go back to what I used to do. I had to give myself the freedom to be a little eccentric again. With some of the other songs on the new record, I definitely allowed myself to change tempos; to not have a structure. And at the same time, to have hopefully enough catchiness for somebody to still grab hold of it. There’s definitely still both sides of the coin."[3] In an interview with Grazia, Goodrem referred to the album as her "first 'woman' record", further explaining "my next album has really been about being transparent and finding that part of me that wants to be my authentic self at all times. The album is incredibly personal, raw and honest. I have opened up and shared stories that I have not shared before and people have really resonated to the transparency and vulnerability. I just want to make good music for people to have as soundtracks to their own lives."[4]

Despite working on an album of original material, Only Santa Knows was released on 12 November 2020 with no prior announcement. On Twitter, Goodrem stated: "I hope the music brings you joy and puts us all in good spirits regardless of everything going on around us."[5]

Following the surprise release of the album, Goodrem explained that the idea for a Christmas album had begun "midway through the year" and that she "went to storage, grabbed all the Christmas decorations, took them to the studio and started getting into the spirit".[6]

In a review for Only Santa Knows, website Stack referred to Goodrem as a "traditionalist" and opined that "opening on an uber-haunting version of the already spooky Carol of the Bells, it’s immediately clear Delta Goodrem knows what makes the Christmas classics tick".[7] Thomas Bleach commented "reimagining some Christmas classics through her Delta Goodrem musical lens, she's delivered some very uplifting renditions of "The Little Drummer Boy", "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "White Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". She even recorded her own version of Joni Mitchell's "River" which over time has become a Christmas cult favourite. But on top of that, she also wrote a brand new Christmas song which embodies the importance of believing during this time of year."[8]

Only Santa Knows debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart at number five,[9] the lowest opening week of Goodrem's career. In its fifth charting week, the album rose to number two.

To support the album, Goodrem announced her own Christmas special Christmas with Delta, which aired on Nine Network on 12 December,[10] to a viewership of 380,000.[11]