Album review: She & Him create a cool Yuletide album

With only five weeks to go until the season of family feuds and overeating (seriously, where did this year go?), it’s time once again for every singer and their dog to cash in on desperate last-minute shopping with the release of a Christmas album. Following on from 2011’s A Very She & Him Christmas, vintage pop duo Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward assemble another collection of traditional festive tunes, for Christmas Party, She & Him’s sixth album together. Alongside the typical yuletide offerings of Let It Snow and Winter Wonderland, the quirky folk-pop duo take on both modern classics (Chuck Berry’s Run, Run, Rudolph, and Mariah Carey’s saccharine-sweet All I Want For Christmas Is You), and lesser-known treats, such as folk singer Vashti Bunyan’s The Coldest Night of the Year, which is the shining star on top of the tree. Foregoing the typical musical accompaniment, She & Him instead create a cosy holiday vibe with the aid of family and friends, and a stripped-down approach that makes Christmas Party a rare festive gift.