Their treatment of Joni MitchellвЂ™s River is similarly impressive, with nothing but a piano and their soaring voices they create something quite spine tingling. At their best it also sounds wonderfully ethereal and evocative, such as on their version of Sarah MclachlanвЂ™s Wintersong or Damien RiceвЂ™s Eskimo. As might be expected, the tone throughout is almost entirely hymnal. As such the songs that are covered here are, for the most part, arranged and executed in a manner far removed from their original form. Of course, this is not just a project involving two brothers, but an entire womenвЂ™s choir. That they turned to Facebook for advice is fitting, as it was their version of Creep appearing in the film The Social Network that drove them into limelight.

Unsure of what to do, they asked their Facebook friends for suggestions and the response led to the recording of December. That is, until they were asked to record one for a German radio station.

It would appear that the brothers Kolacny feel the same, and although a sizeable chunk of their output over the years has been cover versions (and in particular covers of alternative artists, with Nirvana and Depeche Mode amongst them) they have been reluctant to dabble with any festive tunes. ItвЂ™s amazing that the music listening world hasnвЂ™t heard enough of the seasonal offerings from Slade, ShakinвЂ™ Stevens, and er, Cliff Richard already, but every year they seemingly get repackaged and snapped up like hot mince pies. Ordinarily, festive albums are a compilation of all the usual suspects crammed in to make sure that all the old favourites are heard ad infinitum in every house and every shop in the land. Rather than wait until December to release December, Scala And Kolacny Brothers have opted to beat the Christmas rush and put their latest album out in November, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. вЂTis the season for a slew of Christmas albums to hit the shelves.

Scala and kolacny brothers