The Molly Burch Christmas Album, Molly Burch (Captured Tracks)

I hadn't encountered Molly before this. She's an Austin, Texas singer-songwriter with a couple of albums and singles to her credit over the past couple of years and she chose to make album number three a Christmas collection for the 2019 season. It's mostly covers, but she wrote two originals, the uptempo shuffle "Holiday Dreaming" and the ballad "New Year Love." She betrays an interest in wrapping up the season quickly though, as the latter original is joined by versions of ABBA's "Happy New Year" and a dirge-y rendition of "Auld Lang Syne." Other tunes include a country arrangement of "Snowqueen of Texas," which I just learned is a John Phillips original first done by the Mamas and the Papas; a solidly pop-rock cover of "Last Christmas" with talking and singing added by actors John Early and Kate Berland; and she dragged in a bunch of kids for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Most of the album is pop balladry, as seen in "The Secret of Christmas," "Hard Candy Christmas," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "The Coldest Night of the Year," and "What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas?" Molly is a fine singer and she gives every song here a worthy performance, but I'm more likely to recommend this to folks who like traditional pop music.