Christmas seems to come earlier each year, and so at the end of October, Nick Lowe is releasing his latest, festive album. The joys of Christmas infuse the dozen songs on Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For all the Family. And, just like that quintessentially British Christmas confectionery, there will be tracks you like, others you dislike, but make no mistake, there's something here for everyone's taste...

Nick Lowe's new album, Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For all the Family, is a Christmas album with a bit of a twist. In compiling this album, Lowe (I'm assuming Lowe had creative control on which songs were chosen) has hand picked Christmas songs that are not well known, some old favourites as well as new songs specially written for the album.

I have to admit to being a little sceptical about this album when I was sent it for review. And it was interesting to learn, in the press release, that Lowe himself was not overly struck, at first, by the thought of producing a Christmas album. There's something a little cheesy about releases of this nature, but Lowe has managed to spin this into an interesting release.

Lowe's take on some classics, like 'Silent Night' and 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day' is interesting, as are his covers of songs you've probably never heard before like Roger Miller's 1967 song 'Old Toy Trains' and the Felice and Boudleaux Bryant track 'Christmas Can't Be Far Away' which was originally performed by Burl Ives and included on his 1965 album Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.

I really enjoyed Lowe's 'Christmas at the Airport'. This is a tongue in cheek, modern take on Christmas, with a passenger stranded in an airport terminal at Christmas. I'm hoping, and praying, that this will become a Christmas classic in years to come.

Sadly, I didn't feel the same way towards Lowe's 'I Was Born in Bethlehem' - possibly because, note for note, there's a segment that sounds like 'If I Only Had A Brain' from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.

The album contains 12 tracks and lasts for approximately 39 minutes. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but give it a chance, you might be surprised at how festive you feel afterwards.

7

Nick Smithson