Tinsel and Lights
Tinsel and Lights is a Christmas album by British singer Tracey Thorn. It was released on 30 October 2012 on Buzzin' Fly Records and Merge Records. It is her fourth solo studio album.
| Tinsel and Lights | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 29 October 2012 | |||
| Genre | Christmas, pop, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 37:13 | |||
| Label | Buzzin' Fly Records Merge Records | |||
| Producer | Ewan Pearson | |||
| Tracey Thorn chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album mostly avoids canonical Christmas songs but instead features covers of songs by Sufjan Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Ron Sexsmith and The White Stripes as well as self-penned songs. Scritti Politti's Green Gartside features on a cover of Low's "Taking Down the Tree", as well as writing "Snow in Sun". Ben Watt, who is Thorn's husband and partner in Everything but the Girl, plays on most tracks, and their three children provide backing vocals on the track "Joy".
Tinsel and Lights entered the UK Album charts at number 94 on the 10 November 2012[1]
An expanded version was released via iTunes. In addition to the original 12 tracks, it added "25th December" (originally performed by Ben Watt on EBTG's "Amplified Heart" album) as well as acoustic versions of "Joy," "River" and "Tinsel and Lights."
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Exclaim! | 7/10[4] |
Tinsel and Lights received many favourable reviews around the time of its release including a review in The Guardian[5] and the BBC[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Joy" | Tracey Thorn | 4:00 |
| 2. | "Hard Candy Christmas" | Carol Hall | 3:24 |
| 3. | "Like a Snowman" | Stephin Merritt | 2:38 |
| 4. | "Maybe This Christmas" | Ron Sexsmith | 2:11 |
| 5. | "In the Cold, Cold Night" | Jack White | 2:38 |
| 6. | "Snow" | Randy Newman | 2:39 |
| 7. | "Snow in Sun" | Green Gartside | 2:18 |
| 8. | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin | 3:16 |
| 9. | "Tinsel and Lights" | Tracey Thorn | 3:26 |
| 10. | "River" | Joni Mitchell | 3:24 |
| 11. | "Taking Down the Tree" | Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker, Tracey Thorn | 4:10 |
| 12. | "Sister Winter" | Sufjan Stevens | 4:29 |
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] | 169 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8] | 58 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[9] | 94 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[10] | 3 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[11] | 22 |
References
- "Official Charts Company".
- "Tinsel And Lights by Tracey Thorn". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- Jurek, Thom. "Tinsel and Lights - Tracey Thorn". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- Edwards, Michael (30 October 2012). "Tracey Thorn Tinsel and Lights". Exclaim!. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- Petridis, Alexis. "Tracey Thorn: Tinsel and Lights – review". the Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- Wallace, Wyndham. "BBC - Music - Review of Tracey Thorn - Tinsel and Lights". Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- "Ultratop.be – Tracey Thorn – Tinsel And Lights" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Swedishcharts.com – Tracey Thorn – Tinsel And Lights". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.