The Innocence Mission have not recorded a Christmas album, but it seems like a perfect idea for them, and with their new interest in fund-raiser collections, it seems almost inevitable that one will arrive. But in the meantime, Now the Day is Over can serve that purpose beautifully. Its release is well-timed, and I encourage you to introduce it into your holiday musical selections. You’ll find it puts you in that rare and delicate state of mind that the better parts of Christmas can inspire—a spirit of wonder, generosity, deep gratitude, and the desire to sleep in heavenly peace.

But don’t put the album away when you haul the Christmas tree out of the house at the end of the season. Now the Day is Over is the best album to play at the close of the day … I almost said “this year,” but I’m tempted to say “ever.” It is, after all, a collection of lullabies and songs that work best as the soundtrack to dreams. There’s no better band for this job than The Innocence Mission, and the fact that they’ve recorded this album is like a small Christmas miracle for music lovers.

“Stay Awake,” very likely the most beautiful song in the whole Disney catalogue, was performed with creepy precision by Suzanne Vega on the brilliant all-star tribute to Disney songs that shared the same title. Here, an even sleepier version—and one more beautiful than creepy—is performed by Karen Peris. Yet, even as she makes you want to crawl into the biggest, softest bed you can find, her voice casts such a spell you want to stay awake for the whole thing.

That “whole thing” is only thirty-three fleeting minutes, but Now the Day is Over is a dream worth dreaming for several reasons.

First of all, it’s delicately performed with restrained arrangements, intimate and quiet guitar playing by Don Peris, and vocals from Mrs. Peris that so clear, pure, and hushed you’d swear she was standing right behind you and singing sweetly into your ear. Her voice is soft enough to usher you into sleep, and yet there something of the quality of starlight in her voice as well, so that it seems she could sing a note that would travel through space for thousands of years without fading.

Secondly, each one of these timeless classics seems, here, to have been written for Karen’s voice by the Innocence Mission. The band is at the peak of their powers—and have been since Umbrella in 1991, the album in which they found their stride and their voice and moved away from a more formulaic pop sound that tended to crowd Karen’s voice. These selections blend into the band’s repertoire almost seamlessly. Make a mix tape of songs from this and their previous albums, and almost any combination would work just fine. Perhaps the natural fit comes from Don and Karen’s longtime love of music by Astrud Gilberto and Vince Guaraldi, and the soundtrack to Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

“What a Wonderful World” is sung without a hint of irony or regret, but complete sincerity. When she says, “I see babies cry and watch them grow,” the band’s fans will smile knowingly, because they heard the album of sadness and longing for children called Birds of my Neighborhood, and know that the Perises now have seen that prayer answered. When she mentions “dark sacred nights” you realize that you’re enjoying one right now, and when they sing “It Is Well with My Soul,” the music turns sacred indeed. (The band seems intent on making that song their very own—they’ve included it on three different albums now!)

It’s hard not to think of the Peris children again when Karen sings “Bye-lo,” you can almost hear her children sleeping peacefully beneath her watchful gaze. But most of the songs are likely to turn you into a sleepy, happy child. With a mix of piano and guitars, “Moon River” shimmers and glitters like light on dark water. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is sung in voice both cheerful and lonely in a way that reassures our own feelings of longing.

The third reason to buy the album is because of Bono. Yes, that Bono. While this album was in the works, Karen heard Bono speak at her brother’s college graduation about the sufferings of orphans in South Africa. She says, “Our plans to make this record were strengthened and propelled and we worked more quickly and spontaneously than usual.” Donations will help Catholic Relief Services efforts on behalf of those struggling South African children. So that gratitude you feel when The Innocence Mission ministers to you in their own unique way will remind you that, by participating in this joyous occasion, you too have contributed a gift ... a little something to meet a far more serious need. All the more reason to buy several copies and share them with your family and friends.

Thank you, Don and Karen Peris, for steadfastly providing such rare, wholesome, and, yes, sacred gifts for our ears, minds, and hearts.