Here’s a neat fact about about this new album from Toronto vocal quartet Cadence: It was funded through Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site, where people pledged money toward making the recording possible.

The group had set a goal of $10,000, and walked away from their Kickstarter experience in mid-November with $12,663 donated by 209 backers.

Here’s a review:

CADENCE
Cool Yule (Guaranteed Hi-Fi)

It’s been a bumper year for Christmas albums. But even with Yuletide offerings from superstars like Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Carole King and Paul Anka on the iTunes racks, there’s room for this one, precious sleeper to tuck into your music player.

Canadian a cappella quartet Cadence has let all of its cool-cat tricks out of the bag for this seasonal treat should keep putting smiles on listeners’ faces for years to come.

Capitalizing on their years of close-harmony and human beat-boxing experience, Aaron Jensen, Ross Lynde, Carl Berger and Kurt Sampson have put a refreshing spin on a cool dozen favourites.

Each track offers a toe-tapping twist on a generation-crossing selection that ranges from Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” to “Carol of the Bells” and “Silent Night,” with no fear of saccharine sentiment or sugary crash, thanks to their smart, shaken-with-a-twist arrangements. Fans of contemporary Christian music should love a Jensen original, “The Carpenter’s Carol.”

My favourite track: Berger’s arrangement of non-Christmas Frank Loesser favourite, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” with a vocal cameo by Lori Cullen.

The album is available for download on iTunes here.

Cadence’s official release concert for Cool Yule is at the Trane Studio on Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. Details here.

Here’s the video from Kickstarter, to give you a taste of the boys — and the experience:

Cool Yule

John Terauds

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John Terauds

John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.

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