The third entry in my “O Christmas Free” series comes from country star Mary Chapin Carpenter. Even casual fans of Carpenter’s work shouldn’t be surprised to hear that Come Darkness, Come Light, her first holiday album, ventures well beyond the typical fare.

Subtitled Twelve Songs of Christmas, the set is comprised of six Carpenter originals, three from other writers, and three traditional songs (though “Still Still Still,” “Once In Royal David’s City” and “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” have to be among the least traditional songs in the Christmas canon). Sure, Come Darkness, Come Light won’t get your holiday shindig started, but it’s not meant to. Rather, consider it the perfect musical companion for a quiet winter’s night spent at home.

But fear not, Christmas fanatics. Carpenter did wrap up a few familiar carols as online bonus tracks to Come Darkness, Come Light. “Little Drummer Boy” is forthcoming from Amazon MP3, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is available now via iTunes, while Barnes and Noble has “Silent Night”—available for free!

Visit Barnes and Noble now to add Mary Chapin Carpenter’s version of “Silent Night” to your growing Christmas playlist. The track is offered in a Windows-friendly .asf format, so if you’re a Mac, you’ll need to convert the file to MP3 (I highly recommend Audacity).

And if you were late in getting to last week’s pick, you learned that these little gifts don’t always last, so get downloading!