When Winter Comes, Sofia Talvik (Makaki)

For the past decade, this Swedish songstress has dropped a holiday single every year like clockwork. So that would suggest this 2017 album was inevitable, but maybe not; her press person said this was scheduled for last year but a household emergency ate up the money she set aside to do the album. Most of her past holiday songs have been on the darker side of the holiday, but over the past few years, as she's toured the US and gotten in touch with her Americana side, they've gotten a little lighter. Still, these are mostly guitar and violin/cello arrangements of these very serious tunes; not a lot of rocking going on here, but attention must be paid to the excellent songwriting on offer here. This year's single, "This Great Old Christmas Night," is based on an old Irish song that touches on everyone's ultimate fate but still manages to celebrate the holiday. Other new songs include "A Second or a Year" "Clothe Yourself For the Winter," and the title song, pensive ballads all, and the collection's only cover, an almost dour version of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." The rest of the songs are re-recorded versions of most, but not all, of her past singles; they're all up on Bandcamp if you want to mix and match.