One More Drifter in the Snow (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Aimee Mann (vocals, acoustic guitar); Grant Lee Phillips (vocals); Chris Bruce (acoustic guitar); Duke Levine (electric guitar, banjo, mandola); Patrick Warren (piano, celesta, organ, chamberlin, keyboards); Paul Bryan (bass guitar, background vocals); Jay Bellerose (drums, percussion).

Released in 2006, ONE MORE DRIFTER IN THE SNOW finds indie-pop artist Aimee Mann settling in to a warm, cozy set of Christmas tunes. Inspired by classic holiday records of the 1940s and '50s, Mann brings sincerity and elegance to her selection of Yuletide standards, as best revealed on a delicate rendition of "I'll Be Home for Christmas," which features a spacious, string-tinged arrangement that leaves plenty of room for her beautifully plaintive voice. In addition to a playful version of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (narrated by Grant-Lee Phillips), Mann offers up the self-penned "Calling on Mary" and "Christmastime," written by her husband, Michael Penn. The song choices and skillful delivery result in an inviting and consistently brilliant Christmas album.

There's not much in Aimee Mann's past that would suggest that she would record a holiday album. Ever since launching a solo career in 1993 with Whatever, she's steadily built a reputation as a consummate singer/songwriter, renowned for her intelligent craft, which perhaps peaked around the turn of the century when she provided songs for Paul Thomas Anderson's third film, Magnolia, which led to her excellent third album, Bachelor No. 2. Since that project, Mann's work remained at a typically high level, but her subsequent albums -- 2002's Lost in Space and 2005's The Forgotten Arm -- were a touch too studied and deliberate, certainly not the kinds of records that would point the way toward a holiday excursion like 2006's One More Drifter in the Snow. Not that this Christmas album is far removed from the music Mann has made over the past decade: it's hushed and intimate, filled with antique keyboards that occasionally exude a mildly carnivalesque vibe, so it does feel of a piece with Mann's last few albums, yet the tone is different. Of course, part of the change in tone is that this is a holiday album, and Mann clearly intends for One More Drifter in the Snow to be played alongside classic '50s Christmas albums from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. This album has a similarly appealing, warm and lazy, jazzy vibe -- a sound that evokes the holiday season for millions of listeners, and Mann should be commended not only for nailing that sound, but writing an original called "Calling on Mary" that fits comfortably next to "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland" (her husband Michael Penn's "Christmastime" also fits nicely). So, the album feels right, but even better for Mann fans -- especially those skeptical about a Christmas record -- One More Drifter in the Snow finds the singer/songwriter in top form as a performer, turning in the loosest, friendliest recording she's made in years. There's little of the self-consciousness that hampered Lost in Space and The Forgotten Arm; she sounds as if she's having fun making this music, which not only makes for a good Christmas record, but bodes well for her next proper pop album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize