Christmas In The Heart (2009)

This is madness. Glorious madness. An album of traditional Christmas songs from Here Comes Santa Claus to O' Little Town of Bethlehem via Winter Wonderland, O Come All Ye Faithful and the rest. The whole Christmas kit and caboodle. Who'd have thought it?

More to the point, who would have thought it would work? Hearing Dylan croak his way through Hark The Herald Angels Sing is bizarre to say the least. It could have been terrible but he manages to pull it off mostly because he plays it straight. This is no tongue-in-cheek effort; no knowing nods and winks as he ploughs through hymns and other Christmas favourites. The reason it works is mostly because of the sincerity with which it is delivered. Dylan singing traditional Christmas tunes is daft enough in itself, it didn't need any smirks or swanny whistles and you don't get any. The production is sincere also, coming from another age with the feel - particularly due to the classic backing singer sound - of a 1950s holiday special. A real throwback.

The only concession to modernity comes with Dylan's (wonderful) version of the Moore and Frederick's classic Must Be Santa. Bob delivers a rip-roaring toe-tapping performance that would stand up on any LP. And a great video too.

Let's talk about the voice again. I love Dylan's voice and think it has aged like a good whisky but there are places on this record where it sounds, frankly, ropey. It is all down to context. Within a hymn like O Little Town Of Bethlehem where the melody is so familiar and usually delivered with a choirboy's clarity, Dylan's cracks and rasps and missed notes stand out clearly, especially when accompanied by sweet sounding backing vocals. For anyone other that your Bobcat it could be too uncomfortable a listen. However, give him something like The Christmas Blues or Must Be Santa and it all fits again; the cracks and the rasps adding character to the songs and making them his own.

Of course, this is never going to be your favourite Dylan LP or sit alongside the classics but I doubt it was meant to be. It is a gem, though, just in some odd universe of its own. A delightful curio.

And all for charity.

Out of five?

Tricky.... Four

Favourite track?

Must Be Santa

Up Next?

Tempest [yet to be released]