Roxy Music‘s Phil Manzanera and Andy MacKay add to the sounds of the season with this week’s (Friday, November 17th) re-release of “Christmas.” The 26-song set was originally released in 1989 and became a seasonal favorite in the U.K. This week’s edition will be issued on vinyl and CD, and guitarist Manzanera tells us that it remains a project he and MacKay are very proud of:

“The difference with this one is it’s all instrumental, and you think, ‘Oh, that’s a bit dull’ because it’s got Appalachian sort of influences, clues influences, and it’s all on acoustic instruments. It’s all played. It’s not done by computer and it’s got lovely clarinets and flutes and Andy playing beautiful soprano and a bit of Irish pennywhistle in there. So it is challenging if you think about it.” :34 OC: Think about it.

Manzanera and MacKay recorded “Christmas” with The Players, a sextet of British musicians, along with several others who contributed to the project.

Manzanera and MacKay also released a joint album “AM PM,” during October.
The duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Roxy Music during 2019.
Roxy Music last toured during 2022 to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary.