Pentatonix goes around the world in 7th Christmas album

Can the Christmas Season yield more surprises about Jose Mari Chan’s enduring Christmas in our Hearts? I say it can because the country’s favorite holiday perennial has been recorded by the most popular Holiday group of all time. the Pentatonix. And what do you know, they brought Lea Salonga along for the ride.

Christmas celebrations of the past 10 years came with a soundtrack by Pentatonix. The high charting a cappella pop group has sort of made a career recording Holiday music by making a new album on a regular basis every two years. That might seem like too much for any artist. I have never heard of any artist, even the biggest names do so many Christmas albums. One or two for an entire career was usually enough. Not for Pentatonix though.

Pentatonix or PTX has recorded and released six full-length studio albums, plus an EP in 2012 which got the Yuletide adventure started. Given this, it can also be said that PTX has recorded almost all of the most loved Christmas songs. Pop, traditional, new original, even the only Christmas sounding, you know, songs that sound as though they could be Christmas carols like Hallelujah but are not.

You cannot really blame these guys for concentrating on Christmas music because their albums turned out to be massive hits. This is again very unusual because although it has happened once or twice to the likes of Barbra Streisand or the Ray Conniff Singers, it was the belief in the music industry that Christmas albums have a limited market. Not in the case of PTX though. They hit the charts on their first time out and more times later.

A PTX Christmas, the first one made it to the Top 10 sellers of the year list and yielded hit singles in new arrangements of Carol of the Bells and Little Drummer Boy. That’s Christmas to Me two years later made No. 2 at year’s end and has already sold almost two million copies to date, thanks to the single, Mary Did You Know, plus Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Silent Night and the title track.

2016’s A Pentatonix Christmas was even bigger. It was No. 2 at the year-end charts and is also on course towards two million copies. The hit singles were the originals Good to be Bad and A Christmas Sing-Along. Two years later came Christmas is Here, which featured movie themes covers like Makin’ Christmas from The Nightmare Before Christmas, When You BeIieve from Prince of Egypt and Where are You Christmas from The Grinch who Stole Christmas.

COVID-19 did not stop Pentatonix from getting into its Holiday mode. 2020’s We Need a Little Christmas was recorded by the group, while each of them was in isolation at home. But they still managed to come up with some goodies like a new take on Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone and Once Upon a December from Anastasia. A year later, they racked up their schedule with another one. Titled Evergreen, it had I Just Called to Say I Love You as the single from a line-up that includes Three Ships, Frosty the Snowman and others.

So, what can PTX do for its seventh Christmas album? To make this one extra special, they decided to go around the world. That means showcasing music and artists from other countries like pianist Lang Lang from China for Jingle Bells, Indian superstar Shreya Ghora for Invincible, Hiba Tawaji of Lebanon for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and others.

This is where Christmas in Our Hearts comes in. The song was Pentatonix’s choice as the entry from the Philippines and they asked Lea Salonga to join them in the track.

This is great global exposure for the song. While the popularity of Christmas in Our Hearts remains at an all-time high, it is still nice to know that fans of PTX and fans of the other guests in the album from other countries are also listening to it and appreciating its simple but meaningful Christmas message.

Bit of trivia here. Lea was Chan’s original choice to record Christmas in our Hearts with him but her label commitments prevented her from doing so. With a release date in the offing and a studio waiting, his daughter Lisa was asked to step in. Well, she did and made history. Now, Lea also got to sing the song. Everybody won. And Christmas in our Hearts by Pentatonix is a winner.