Calexico's Seasonal Shift is less of a Christmas album and more of a cross cultural seasonal celebration. The themes are based around that familiar end of year feeling, of reflection, of ceremony and of recognition of the year gone by and changes it brought for better and for worse. It contains a few cover songs including classics by John Lennon and Tom Petty, a few more special guests and a whole load of good will. It's heartfelt but fun, and earnest but celebratory. It features Calexico in an as-sortment of guises, referencing Portuguese Fado and Old Mexican Folk Songs, from the stripped back two-man skeleton to the full party of international collaborators in-cluding artists like Bombino, Gaby Moreno, Gisela João, Nick Urata (DeVotchKa)and Camilo Lara.