Listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving should be a crime. So, when Melissa Carper’s A Very Carper Christmas fell into my inbox like a rogue snowflake well before anyone in their right mind would be ready for winter, my first instinct was to delete it on sight.

But, I gave it my usual test: one full play without thinking, then a second with the critical lights on. The problem was, the first run-through got me. That last song snuck up and sold me before I was ready. I knew I was in trouble. Vintage swing, candlelit bass lines, and a voice warm enough to thaw a cave I’ve spent years keeping frozen. Carper wasn’t here to recycle Christmas; she was here to rebuild it, one song at a time.