Pet Shop Boys: 'Christmas'

It's pleasing to think of a parallel pop universe in which Pet Shop Boys are competing for a second Christmas No.1 – a mere 22 years after 'Always On My Mind', of course – against the newly-anointed X Factor champ and the Facebook-backed rock upstarts. As it is, Neil and Chris's seasonal EP will be lucky to chart above The Pogues later today. This is a real shame, because what initially seems like a random grab-bag of tracks – an updated version of a song from their last album, a studio version of a live medley, a somewhat unlikely Madness cover in two different forms and an old fanclub single – turns out to be quite a scrumptious assortment. A bit like roast turkey and all the trimmings.

'All Over The World', a highlight from this year's Yes LP, gets a festive makeover from Marius De Vries; the Pets turn the Nuttys 'My Girl' into a moody-yet-optimistic electro workout, and the mash-up of Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida' and the duo's own 'Domino Dancing' works as well on record as it does on tour. But of course, the tastiest morsel is 'It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas', a disco-pop stomper featuring some classic Tennant couplets ("Families fighting around a plastic tree / Nothing on the TV you'd want to see"), a Village People-style choir chanting "Bing Crosby" and a chorus that genuinely warms the cockles. We'll be closing our eyes at 6.45pm today and imagining it's Chris Lowe being asked what the most "uh-may-zing" thing about "Crimbo" is.