Christmas Songs, Jars of Clay (Gray Matters/Nettwerk)

These Christian rockers came out about a decade ago with a single of "Little Drummer Boy," which is rerecorded for this new disc in a similar arrangement but with a bit more orchestration. After the instrumental "The Gift of St. Cecilia," they launch this 2007 CD with Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," a slightly different arrangement that leaves Sir Paul's slapdash approach behind. The poppy "Love Came Down at Christmas" is built on an Irish folk melody and is eminently singable, "Hibernation Day" is about slacking off with your baby in the wintertime, "Winter Skin" is a musical haiku and "Peace is Here" puts a martial beat to a holiday sentiment. Among the other covers are "Gabriel's Message," very much like Sting's, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" gets a long build into quick strumming over cellos, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is given a slightly synth-pop arrangement, they add a bit of R'nB to "Christmastime is Here," and set downtempo arrangements to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and, no surprise, "In the Bleak Midwinter." Taken in total, it's a fairly mellow listening experience, but there's plenty of highlights for you disc mixers out there.