You don’t go to Sting for merry Christmas songs. “If on a Winter’s Night” is his chamber-pop Christmas/seasonal album, which he describes, rightly, in the liner notes as both bleak and beautiful. Sting goes back to Bach and English traditional carols and forward to two new songs. The music, driven by strings, Sting’s vocals and minimal percussion, has a consistent tone: peaceful and slightly ominous. Contemplative and even-keeled, it’s perfect for a frigid night by the fireplace. Download: “The Snow It Melts the Soonest.”