Album: Saint Etienne, A Glimpse of Stocking (Foreign Office)

Saint Etienne's latest Christmas offering combines tracks from four previous fan-club Christmas singles – unexpected covers of things like Chris Rea's "Driving Home For Christmas" and Cliff Richard's "21st Century Christmas" – with seven new pieces.

"Gonna Have A Party" is the best, electropop moderne with a dusting of snowflakes and sleigh bells, Sarah Cracknell's voice subjected to a trendy dash of autotuning over the sparkly synths. Poignant melodica brings an enigmatic appeal to the house stomper "I Was Born On Christmas Day", while the brief instrumental interludes "Fireside Favourite" and "Snowbound On The South Bank" are evocatively nostalgic. The Doors' "Wintertime Love", meanwhile, becomes a woozy waltz of accordion and tack piano.

DOWNLOAD THIS Gonna Have A Party; I Was Born On Christmas Day; Fireside Favourite