Winter Songs

Editors’ Notes The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs is as womanly as it is wintry. Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson sing a beautifully stark and poetically melancholic “Winter Song,” layering vocals and braiding harmonies together to birth an angelic opener. Brandi Carlile’s “The Heartache Can Wait” is similarly ambrosial in its sadness, blending cello, piano and sleigh bells under her cooing voice. Lenka changes the tone on an adorable little tune called “All My Bells Are Ringing,” with doo-wop inspired backing vocals and lyrics that pine for her Christmas crush. Fiona Apple’s rootsy rendition of “Frosty the Snowman” is playful enough to suggest that maybe she should try her hand at an album of songs for kids. It’s quite a departure from her usual coquettish songs of seduction, but Meiko makes up for that with “Maybe Next Year (Christmas Song),” a flirty tune where even the instruments are alluring; it wouldn’t be out of place if she were singing it while slithering out of a giant gift box at a bachelor party. Priscilla Ahn’s layered acapella take on “Silent Night” is easily the dreamiest contribution here.