After the initial shock fades, the existence of
Christmas in the Heart
seems perhaps inevitable. After all, the thing
Bob Dylan
loves most of all are songs that are handed down from generation to generation, songs that are part of the American fabric, songs so common they never seem to have been written. These are the songs
Dylan
chooses to sing on
, a cheerfully old-fashioned holiday album from its
Norman Rockwell
-esque cover to its joyous backing vocals. Apart from the breakneck
"Must Be Santa,"
which barrelhouses like a barroom,
doesn't really reinterpret these songs as much as simply play them with his crackerjack road band, dropping in a little flair -- restoring "we'll have to muddle through somehow" to
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,"
singing the opening of
"O Come All Ye Faithful"
in its original Latin -- but never pushing tunes in unexpected directions. Many would argue having
croon these carols is unexpected enough and, true, there are times his gravelly rumble is a bit pronounced, but nothing here feels forced, it all feels rather fun, provided you're on the same wavelength as latter-day
Bob
, where the sound and swing of the band is as important as the song, where there's an undeniable nostalgic undertow to all the proceedings. And, of course, there's no better time for celebratory sound, swing, and nostalgia than the holidays, which may be why
is a bit of a left-field delight. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine