It’s a couple of days late to celebrate Christmas in July, but today Tracey Thorn announced the tracklisting for her upcoming collection of yuletide music, Tinsel And Lights. She’s been chatting about the album’s progress for some time on Twitter, and as I’m a huge fan of Christmas music, hers is one of the new additions I’m looking forward to this year.

Out October 30, Tinsel And Lights includes a pair of Thorn-penned originals, the title track and “Joy,” plus covers of the classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” (a personal fave) and Joni Mitchell’s “River.” The 13-song set also finds Thorn tangled up in others’ tunes with a wintry feel, like The White Stipes’ “In The Cold, Cold Night,” and Randy Newman’s “Snow.”

What song didn’t make the cut? Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” as Thorn explained to BBC Radio 2’s Gideon Coe this past Sunday.

“That was the actual song that triggered me wanting to do the record [Tinsel And Lights]. I thought, well, if I don’t ever do a version of ‘Last Christmas,’ I’ll be disappointed. But then I tried, and I just realized it was unimprovable and I couldn’t touch it.”

Here’s the tracklisting for Tinsel And Lights:

01 “Joy”
02 “Hard Candy Christmas” (Dolly Parton cover)
03 “Like A Snowman” (written by Stephin Merritt for cabaret duo Kiki and Herb)
04 “Maybe This Christmas” (Ron Sexsmith cover)
05 “In The Cold, Cold Night” (The White Stipes cover)
06 “Snow” (written by Randy Newman and recorded by Harry Nilsson, Saint Etienne)
07 “Snow In Sun” (Scritti Politti cover)
08 “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
09 “Tinsel And Lights”
10 “River” (Joni Mitchell cover)
11 “Taking Down The Tree” feat. Green Gartside of Scritti Politti (Low cover)
12 “Sister Winter” (Sufjan Stevens cover)
13 “25th December” (solo re-recording of Everything But The Girl) [U.S. bonus track]

Tracey Thorn – Tinsel And Lights is out 10/30 via Merge Records.

[via Pitchfork]