Forget tinsel and sentimental seasonal crooning, Collette Cooper is encouraging music-lovers to reflect on 'The Dark Side of Christmas'.

That's the title of her new album, which includes husky, jazzy covers of Silent Night, It Ain't Necessarily So, and What a Wonderful World, alongside original songs which touch on love, loss and empathy.

The title track about a lonely man at Christmas features A lister Ray Winstone reading Cooper's poem. The Hampstead performer praised the "incredible tone" of his voice, and said he was "down to earth and a joy to work with."

"I'm trying to reflect what's happening globally, how people are feeling about the cost of living," she said.

"Post pandemic there's a lot of sadness out there, people suffering with their mental health, or feeling pressure to have a good time. You forget there are people on their own, struggling or going through loss."

Cooper's track Another Day is dedicated to her best friend Clare Bonham who died unexpectedly in March 2020.

"We'd spent New Year together - that was the last time I saw her. It's a time of year when you think about people who aren't around, and the song says 'I will see you in another life. Energies don't die.'"

'Run Santa Baby' is a tongue in cheek song about a frostbitten, skint Father Christmas, but Cooper says the album has notes of spirituality and hope.

"You get to the end of the year, reflect on all the good and bad things and think 'ok that year was tough'. But you always have the hope that next year will be better. Otherwise I would fall to pieces."

Recorded at Abbey Road and Dean Street Studios the cover was shot by famed photographer Rankin, and contributors include friend, Richard Harwood, principle cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra who plays on ‘Silent Night’, jazz trumpeters Andy Davies and Kevin Davy, and The Kings Voices Gospel Choir.

Some of them will be at Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead on December 19 to perform with Cooper. with mulled wine and "Christmassy" vibe.

"There will be twelve musicians no stage, a gospel choir, mulled wine, it will be very special and Christmassy."

Cooper herself was nominated for several Offies and a pub theatre award for her Old Red Lion show Tomorrow May Be My Last. She co-wrote, directed and performed the immersive musical play about the late rock singer Janis Joplin and is finalising plans for a three month London run in 2023.

The Dark Side of Christmas is out now on Theolonius Punk Records. https://www.collettecooper.com/Tickets for the Rosslyn Hill Chapel concert from https://www.eventbrite.com/e/darkside-of-christmas-with-collette-cooper-tickets-466287567667