Strange Communion, Thea Gilmore (Rykodisc)

Thea, a British singer-songwriter with eight albums to her credit, decided 2009 was the year to release a Christmas album. She offers us eight original songs and a thought-provoking pair of covers: Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow is Falling," and Elvis Costello's "The St. Stephen's Day Murders." She renders each in versions similar to the original versions but manages to put her own stamp on them. Disc opener "Sol Invictus" is performed with a vocal choir, offering an almost foreboding welcome to winter, and "Thea Gilmore's Midwinter Toast" shakes off the regrets of the past year with a look forward to the new one. "Cold Coming" treads similar ground in a more uptempo way, with the lyrics to this song contributing the album's title. Here it should be noted that while Gilmore appears to be following the approach of Sting and Tori Amos toward a "winter" album, there are overt references to Christmas as well, starting with "This Is Christmas," the album's likely single, with wry lyrics including a first-verse shout-out to "Jona Lewie on the radio" along with a George Harrison-styled guitar break. "Book of Christmas" is an instrumental with that annoying vinyl record noise gimmick. "Drunken Angel" is a title borrowed from Lucinda Williams, but the thrust here is holiday-oriented, again looking back on past regrets and thankful for what blessings made it through. All told, a serious look at the holiday, but one with depth and humor.