Fortunately, Christmas albums come but once a year and although the title of Aimee Mann's One More Drifter in the Snow suggests a grunge approach to the season, she delivers more of a Peggy Lee homage to past times.

The best thing about the album is the arrangements, which are mellow and gentle on Yule favourites such as Christmas Song, White Christmas and Winter Wonderland. Although Mann fails to give any real reinterpretation, her straightforward delivery does at least offer a more considered take on a season that's often better known for greed and consumption than reflection.

In fact, at times her drawl sounds so melancholic on tracks such as I'll be Home for Christmas that you're put in mind of Tom Waits.

All but two of the tracks are Christmas songs that most people know inside out. It's puzzling why the Grammy winner chose to make an album of such well- known songs without including the stamp of her character or a recasting of the familiar.

Since launching her solo career in 1993 with the album Whatever, Mann has become famous for the strength of her songwriting and although she's often critically complimented she has fared less well commercially. Given the plethora of artists who've recorded Christmas albums, perhaps Mann

sees this as a way of reaching a wider audience.

Thankfully, she avoids the sentimentality that's often associated with such festive collections and although the disc makes for a pleasant alternative to Slade belting out Merry Christmas Everybody, you need to be in a somnolent mood to appreciate this collection.