British singer Sting has one surprise for us all this holiday season–a new album. But it’s not an album you might expect, especially at this time of the year. His new album, entitled “If On A Winter’s Night” is unlike anything he’s ever done before. It has a “spooky and ghostly” feel.

Sting’s new album is said to showcase his interpretations of “traditional British songs, ranging from carols to lullabies, that somberly mark the winter season.”

Sting, presently sporting a bearded look, said he wanted his new album to present something different.

Asked by the Associated Press if he rejected doing a traditional Christmas album in the past, Sting said, “I don’t think there’s any need for me to do one of those kind of records. I think there are enough of them out there and my feeling toward the season is a little bit more ambiguous (laughs). So just to be truthful to my own sensibility, I need to acknowledge that the season is not all joy and light for a lot of people. It’s tough — environmentally, emotionally, spiritually. So I wanted to achieve some sort of balance between that sense of traditional Christmas and being home and being warm and being cozy, and also the opposite of those things. A lot of people suffer.”