She & Him / A Very She & Him Christmas

She & Him
A Very She & Him Christmas
(Double Six Records)
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This Christmas, spare a thought for the poor souls who work at HMV. No, not because their bosses are likely to go financially tits up in 2012, but rather because at this time of year, they're subjected to wall-to-wall Christmas music, reinforced by a bananas work schedule, reinforced by the annual Cliff Richard calendar*. (* The Cliff calendar merely rubs salt onto their wounds as he peers at them from across the shop floor).

Luckily, She & Him have written a Christmas album which might just preserve their sanities. The duo, who go by the names of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward respectively, have taken the old school route and recorded covers of the classics, ala the Frank Sinatra Christmas Album, or the Elvis Presley Christmas album.

Freakishly, your grandma is as likely to enjoy the record's cosy nature as you are: the songs, ranging from 'Baby It's Cold Outside' to 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' are performed straight with a rockabilly edge, in a manner not unlike Slow Club.

Deschanel in particular has the voice of a jazz great, while all the three part harmonies feel as snug as a sleeping bag in a log fire (through possibly not quite as fatal). This is a charming delight.