Kacey Musgraves - A Very Kacey Christmas

Kacey Musgraves trades the honky-tonk for a tinsel-draped lounge on A Very Kacey Christmas, her 2016 holiday album and a seasonal record with real wit behind the sparkle.

Released between Pageant Material and Golden Hour, the album finds Musgraves playing host to a retro variety special. Eight familiar standards sit beside four originals she co-wrote, and the guest list is a treat, with Willie Nelson, Leon Bridges and the Western swing harmonies of The Quebe Sisters all dropping by.

The originals carry her signature dry humour. "A Willie Nice Christmas" is exactly the pun it promises, a laid-back duet with Nelson that sounds like it was cut after a long night by the fire. "Christmas Makes Me Cry" admits the season can sting, sung with the plainspoken honesty that made her name, while "Present Without a Bow" pairs her with Bridges for a slow, swaying soul number about missing someone.

Produced by Musgraves with Misa Arriaga and Kyle Ryan, the arrangements lean into vintage warmth, with gentle swing, close harmonies and a breezy island lilt on "Mele Kalikimaka" that turns the living room into a beach bar for three minutes.

It is kitsch with a real heart underneath, and the kind of holiday record that comes out of the sleeve every December.