Kirsty MacColl had a music career spanning 21 years, but is perhaps best known to the uninitiated as the female voice in Fairytale of New York.

The aim of All I Ever Wanted – The Anthology is to redress that balance, and to take the listener on MacColl’s journey from Croydon to Cuba over 43 songs.

The time is right, 14 years after her death, for a comprehensive anthology for a singer described as “a genius” by Jools Holland.

Hers is a voice that encourages metaphor, whether the fading heat of a recently departed lover or the ray of sunshine waking you from a bench in Soho Square, she remains the only musician able to write a convincing love song about a man called “Terry”.

She balances a melancholy tone with a lyrical sense of humour, in a hushed voice that can still be heard through the work of Lily Allen and Ellie Goulding.

Anthology contains everything from the raw early recordings to MacColl’s later, latin inspired work, but for me the stand-out track is her cover of Billy Bragg’s A New England, taken from a live acoustic BBC recording.

Recognised by Bragg as the reason his debut album went gold, MacColl’s sympathetic stamp on an already fantastic song is the real reason she should be forever remembered. If only it was about Christmas.

The Anthology is out now.