Tommy Sands - To Shorten the Winter (CD)

Northern Ireland's celebrated songwriter and peace activist Tommy Sands has created a deeply personal and at times transcendental Christmas album. It may be the magic of Liam O'Flynn's haunting uilleann pipes, the backing vocals of Dolores Keane, or the simple fingerpicking of the guitarists combined with Sands's plaintive and soulful lyrics that makes this album special. Whatever its charm, To Shorten the Winter collects new Sands material and old favorites, including a beautiful reading of poet Patrick Kavanaugh's "A Christmas Childhood/A Call to Hope." And it packs unusual contrasts with traditional fare such as "Raglan Road" and Procol Harum's surreal '60s epic "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Not Christmas tunes, you say? In the hands of Tommy Sands, even the pages of the Belfast phone book could become poetically correct Christmas songs. --Martin Keller

1. Like The First Time It's Chrismas Time 3:14
2. Down By The Lagan Side 4:18
3. The Bushes Of Jerusalem 5:07
4. Whiter Shade Of Pale 6:02
5. Hearts Of Love 3:43
6. A Christmas Childhood/A Call To Hope 4:42
7. Welcome Here Kind Stranger 5:09
8. Raglan Road 5:13
9. Slainte Mhaith/The Cat In The Attic 2:50
10. Let Me Be Your Island 3:25
11. The Mixed Marriage 2:46
12. Matt Hyland 5:10
13. Slan Abhaile 4:16