Cry Cry Christmas, The Sweptaways featuring Magnus Carlson & the Gray Brigade (Hybris/Darla)

Well, this turned into a bit of a scavenger hunt when I started trying to unwind what's going on here. Fortunately, J. Williamson's user review at Amazon helped me figure things out. The Sweptaways are a 30-member women's choral group from Stockholm who perform pop tunes -- a more sincere version of Polyphonic Spree, if you will. For this 2007 four-song EP, they combine with Magnus Carlson & the Gray Brigade, and the results are about what you'd respect from the above description when it comes to "Silver Bells" and "Vintersong (Icy Version)." Then there's a remix of their previously released version of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights," which is, well, what it is. The title song, however, is quite another kettle of fish. It sounds like nothing so much as an outtake from the Phil Spector Christmas album, and I'm guessing that's ol' Magnus on lead vocal. To add to the confusion, The Sweptaways released another four-song EP the same year called A Christmas Party With the Sweptaways and Friends. That collection repeats "Cry Cry Christmas" and "Silver Bells," adding "Christmas Party" and "Lady December," both of which are more like "Silver Bells, which is to say glee club-ish. Don't bother trying to unwind all this yourself -- just download "Cry Cry Christmas."