Annie Lennox “Universal Child”

It’s getting harder and harder to put out a Christmas album.

What with the stores starting to play holiday tunes in October and some radio stations flipping to an All Christmas format every November, the need for new Christmas albums is increasing at an exponential rate.

The downside for you, if you’re thinking of finally recording your Christmas masterpiece, is that every-freaking-body and their cellist has recorded “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “Silver Bells” and even lesser tunes like “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas.”

It’s harder and harder to find untapped Christmas resources.

So Annie Lennox went the Sting-route, following the bearded Bard’s lead by recording tunes so traditional, no one has ever heard of them.

“C’mon everybody, it’s ‘I'l est ne le Divin Enfant.’ You know the words!! . . . Anyone?”

“Liven up your Christmas Party with, uh, 'In The Bleak Midwinter'”!!

Well, she does do “Silent Night” so you’re not completely out in the wilderness.

And, in what is a more a curse than a blessing (when speaking about most artists), she writes one of her own. Fortunately, Lennox has a pretty good quality control detector, so “Universal Child” is actually a pretty good tune.

As holiday resources deplete, look for some punk band to cover it, for Christmas 2011.