Good news and bad news. In response to our post from a few years ago, in which we noted this band's long history of doing limited holiday releases, they put together an entire album for 2010, adding seven new recordings to eight of their past Christmas songs. Bad news: if you're just finding out about this now, it's too late -- this was a limited edition. If you happen to be in England for their December shows, they'll have a few to sell there. The band is streaming the new songs from their website, however, so you can at least hear them until this disc turns up again. The new songs include "Gonna Have a Party," a danceable number with a quote from ELP's "Father Christmas" over the outro; "Welcome Home," another uptempo number with a coming-home-for-Xmas theme; "Snowbound on the South Bank" and "Fireside Favorite," a pair of brief, pensive instrumentals; "No Cure For the Common Christmas," a pop ballad set to a fast house beat; "Unwrap Me," a midtempo holiday come-on; and a cover of the Doors' "Wintertime Love," similar in approach to the original with a little French accordion overlaid to take the chill off. Previously released Saint Etienne holiday favorites like "I Was Born On Christmas Day," "Come On Christmas," "Driving Home For Christmas," Randy Newman's "Snow," the Cliff Richard cover "21st Century Christmas" and the Billy Fury tune "My Christmas Prayer" are part of the lineup as well. Bob Stanley's liner notes note the band's love of the holiday and determination to steer away from more jaded views of Christmas; all the more reason why the band should get this in front of the larger public at some future date. UPDATE: Don't know when this happened, but this album became downloadable at some subsequent date, adding to it one new song, "Santa's False Teeth."
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