Album: Gruff Rhys, Atheist Xmas EP (Turnstile)

Talking of glum, Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys takes the principle of seasonal solemnity somewhat farther than most here, in three songs managing to thoroughly curdle the notion of goodwill to all men by focusing on the seasonally affective disorder aspect of the holiday.

With kazoo adding a certain bathetic charm, the chunky swing-rocker "Post Apocalypse Christmas" muses ironically upon the possibility of festive cheer sustaining through a nuclear winter during which "we lick our wounds to kill the hunger"; and the bleak harmonies of "At the End of the Line" illuminate the suicidal loneliness some feel during this period.

The undulating blues "Slashed Wrists This Christmas" is more brutal still, a recollection of how manic depression afflicted a friend. Cheers, Gruff!

DOWNLOAD THIS: Post Apocalypse Christmas; Slashed Wrists This Christmas