Tinsel and Lights with Tracey Thorn

Old girl from Hertfordshire is best known as half (with Ben Watt) of the '90s dance-music group, Everything But the Girl (the multi-mixed "Wrong" and "Missing" were huge international club and radio hits). Last year, she released a Christmas album, getting a major push in the US for 2013, largely via Amazon.com.

Tinsel and Lights is a worthy addition to anyone's Christmas collection. Tracey possesses a voice I would classify as torch moderne. It's perfectly suited to her track choices for this cd, both original and modern classics like Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas" and Joni Mitchell's "River."

Said UK's The Guardian: "[C]hoice covers of Dolly Parton, White Stripes and Randy Newman songs and, in Joy and the title track, two fabulous self-penned tunes. Not every song is strictly Christmassy, but Thorn's duet with Green Gartside, Taking Down the Tree, captures the emotions particular to the season and stands comparison with anything she's done."

It's a nice, mellow treat for Christmas under the tree. Recommended for the holidays. You might think you have everything. But here's the Girl to help make our season bright.