Anyone who's ever worked retail has a love/hate relationship with this time of year.

The idea of Christmas is great, but because it's so busy and you probably only have one day off -- if you're lucky -- you never get to enjoy it.

Though it's been a while since Canadian jazz vocalist Holly Cole has punched a cash register, she knows the feeling.

The only problem is, she has no one to blame by herself.

"It's true, the aspects of Christmas that I enjoy are the ones that are sometimes robbed from me by my own hand by touring and making albums," Cole says. "But you find time."

She's made a tradition of Christmas tours, but this year it could be especially tough to enjoy the holidays, considering the singer will be touring her brand new Xmas album Baby, It's Cold Outside until Dec. 23.

Making things even more hectic for Holly is that for her shows, including her Jubilee Auditorium appearance on Monday night, she teams up with symphonies, which requires extra rehearsals and extra headaches.

But for Cole, it's worth it.

The concerts, like the recording of the album itself, are something she put a great deal of time, effort and pride in.

"People, I think unknowingly, lower their standards when they go buy Christmas records, because artists, maybe knowingly or not, are willing to slap off hack Christmas albums all the time -- it's a drag," says Cole, who has already previously released a Christmas EP and was also featured on another album with Jane Siberry, Victoria Williams and others called Count Your Blessings.

"Christmas albums are sort of an afterthought cash-grab kind of thing, and then when they make their own regular records they spend a whole bunch of time, effort and think about them.

"I treated this record as any other record that I've ever made. To me it's just as important."

And it sounds it. Baby, It's Cold Outside, which was co-produced by Cole and her long-term collaborator Aaron Davis, is perhaps the season's best new offering.

The entire feel of the warmly orchestrated album recalls records of the '60s and '70s, and the songs themselves are, for the most part, less well-known winter-time recordings that range from the title track, which is performed as a duet with Barenaked Lady Ed Robertson, to the beautifully dark Merle Haggard tune If We Make It Through December to the nice 'n' naughty Santa Baby.

"I'll tell you one thing," Cole laughs about the latter title, "it takes a lot of work to make Santa Claus seem sexy."

That's not to say the album doesn't include some traditional faves -- most notably I'll Be Home for Christmas -- or her concert on Monday night won't include more.

Cole says she understands the need for people to cozy themselves with the past -- more specifically music from their past -- especially at this time of year.

"There's a familiarity and a warmth that people feel when they hear songs that are so familiar to them and they equate them with hopefully positive memories," Cole says.

"That's one of the great things that music does, always not just Christmas. It's so powerful in terms of being able to take you back to a time in your life."