For a contemporary take on today’s holidaze, WISH, the Anderson & Petty Holiday Album is worth a listen, whether you’re baking Christmas cookies or throwing a party. Barry Anderson, a Blugold in the Big Apple, and Mark Petty, Londoner, make up the U.S./U.K. transatlantic songwriting duo. Anderson grew up in a musical family playing piano and singing show tunes in Osseo. He moved to New York shortly after graduating from UW-Eau Claire in 2000. He and Petty, introduced through a friend, teamed up in 2010. The WISH album, which is a mix of musical theater, jazz, and pop, was released on Dec. 4 with a live concert benefiting Housing Works, a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, in New York City, and is now available on digital platforms worldwide. All the songs are original and are performed by Broadway stars – a few of them with Midwestern roots – as well as other Americans, Brits, and Canadians. The strength of the nine-track album is definitely in the freshness and originality of its lyrics and tunes. While some are melancholy and sentimental (such as the title track, “Wish”) others are hilarious and gregarious, such as “Playing Mrs. Claus” and “Reindeer Wives.” In the former tune, an actress playing Mrs. Claus at a mall has to deal with a pervy Saint Nick, while in the latter, reindeer “wives” gathered for Santa’s takeoff initially perceive Prancer’s significant other as his brother. Nope: He is “one proud reindeer husband.”

More: www.andersonandpetty.com