Presenting Christmas sounds by Pentatonix

Although most of the big name artists made themselves scarce from Christmas music this year, that does not mean there are no hit Christmas albums. We have enough Christmas recordings to last a lifetime. So, if buyers find out that there are no new titles available, they will simply gravitate to the old ones and find something they like. It is a sure bet that they will. And this year, the star album of the Christmas rediscovery effort is That’s Christmas To Me by the a cappella singing group Pentatonix.

Pentatonix is made up of Avi Kaplan, who sings great bass; Kevin Olusola, the beatboxer singing vocal percussion; Kirstie Maldonado, who sings mezzo soprano; Mitch Grassi who does both tenor and counter tenor voices; and Scott Hoying, the lead baritone. All of them are only in their early 20s. The name Pentatonix comes from the pentatonic scale of music where there are five notes per octave. As a result of the group’s success though, Pentatonix has now come to mean a cappella singing of the pop type or a group like Pentatonix.

Pentatonix was discovered after winning grand prize in the third season of the reality TV search for singing groups called The Sing Out in 2011. Nothing came out of the group’s early negotiations for a recording contract. Labels were probably wary about investing in an a cappella group. So Pentatonix members began recording themselves and uploading their clever mash-ups of current hits with simple but effective videos. Songs like Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know and fun.’s We Are Young, got them noticed and made them a YouTube success even before they released their debut album.

Pentatonix now has three pop EPs, Pentatonix Volumes 1 & 2 which were later incorporated into a single album titled PTX and PTX III. Included are Starships, Somebody That I Used To Know, Love You Long Time, We Are Young, Can’t Hold Us, Natural Disaster, Love Again, Hey Momma with Hit The Road Jack, I Need Your Love, Run To You, Daft Punk, Save The World with Don’t Worry Child, Radioactive, Say Something, Royals, Problem, La La Latch, Rather Be, See Through, Standing By plus a nice experiment in Papaqutai featuring the pop violinist who dances, Lindsey Stirling.

Then there is Pentatonix, which is the latest pop release. Like the others, this is an incredible showcase for great singing. Truth to tell, Pentatonix guys are so good that they make the listener forget the fact that there are no musical instruments accompanying the songs. And the best thing about this one is that there are now more new originals than covers in the line-up. Where Are U Now? and Lean On are there to please the fans and then bring to their attention true Pentatonix songs like Na Na Na, Cracked, Water, Take Me Home, Can’t Sleep Love and others.

But maybe it is because of the message of peace and love of the season. Maybe it is because of the memories we associate with lovingly remembered Christmas songs. I do not really know why but it seems like Pentatonix’s singing is at its most brilliant in the Christmas album. This was released a year ago but is an even bigger hit now. It is No. 3 in the Top 200 albums list, just behind Adele and Justin Bieber. I think you can expect the original title track song That’s Christmas To Me to become a Holiday staple soon and to hear carolers singing the moving Mary Did You Know Pentatonix style.

The contents are a festive bunch ranging from carols like Hark The Herald Angels Sing done gospel style to Sleigh Ride, Silent Night, Joy To The World, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, The First Noel, White Winter Hymnal to a fantastic Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Suite to pop tunes like Let It Go from Frozen as a bonus track, Winter Wonderland mashed up with Don’t Worry Be Happy featuring hot YouTube discovery Tori Kelly and another version of Mary Did You Know featuring The String Mob.

Aside from That’s Christmas To Me, other Christmas albums that made the hit charts this year are: Christmas by Michael Bublé; Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship by Chris Tomlin; Mercy Me: It’s Christmas by Mercy Me; Noel by Josh Groban; A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio; It’s Christmas Time by Elvis Presley; Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey; Under The Mistletoe by Justin Bieber; Now That’s What I Call A Country Christmas by Various Artists.

A Family Christmas by the Piano Guys; PTX (EP) by Pentatonix; These Are Special Times by Celine Dion; Icon Christmas by Frank Sinatra; Live by Mannheim Steamroller; Wrapped In Red by Kelly Clarkson; Christmas Songs by Frank Sinatra; The Last Christmas Eve by the Trans Siberian Orchestra; Peace On Earth by Casting Crowns; and My Christmas by Andrea Bocelli.