New Pentatonix album does not earn ‘penta’ stars
Photo Courtesy of Billboard
The popular a cappella group Pentatonix released their sixth original holiday album on Oct. 28, titled “Holidays Around the World.”
Inspired by the group’s upcoming Disney+ feature, which, due to COVID-19 restrictions, was forced to use virtual reality to ‘visit’ filming locations around the world, this album takes a musical tour of a host of countries through collaborations with various international artists.
Featured acts include American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, Congolese singer Grace Lokawa, Lebanese vocalist Hiba Tiwaji, Filipina singer Lea Salonga, Latin American band La Santa Cecilia, Japanese duo HIKAKIN & SEIKIN and British a capella vocal group The King’s Singers.
Despite Pentatonix’s acclaimed history with holiday music, including over 100 million plays of their cover of “Mary Did You Know?” which sits in their top five streamed songs, “Holidays Around the World” doesn’t quite meet the standard of their previous albums.
In this instance, Pentatonix’s holiday music legacy hurts their ability to succeed in this context; in each song, their style is so distinct from their collaborators’ styles that sometimes, it feels like both parties are singing completely different songs.
This issue is most prominent in songs like “Jingle Bells (feat. Lang Lang)” and “Love Came on Christmas (Joy to the World x Kumana Papa) (feat. Grace Lokawa).”
Individually, each artist’s contributions are great showcases of musicality and would hold up as stand-alone covers. When put together, there’s a clear distinction from Pentatonix’s musical comfort levels and whatever tone or flavor they’re trying to emulate, especially in solo moments.
In ensemble moments, though, the international guests do a great job of leading Pentatonix to new stylistic territory. Those moments save each selection from becoming confusing to the ear and help tie together what otherwise would have been two very distinct sections of the song.
At times, the guest stars’ unique takes on these popular holiday songs outshine Pentatonix’s. La Santa Cecilia in “Feliz Navidad” and Hiba Tiwaji in “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are two perfect examples of artists who managed to harness both the cultural style and the nostalgia behind the song at the same time.
It’s inevitable, then, that, Pentatonix’s solo tracks, including “Star on Top” and “Prayers for this World,” showcase Pentatonix at their most comfortable. Both tracks fit perfectly into the group’s existing style while stretching their skills; “Star on Top,” which Pentatonix wrote at a Nashville songwriting camp, stands out as an example of the perfect blend between collaboration and innovation.
Part of the issue with this album is its lack of cohesion. The idea of “Holidays Around the World” isn’t enough to tie all these songs together.
Even though each of the songs was written with the same intent of exploring a new musical genre, American-European styles still dominate the tracklist, turning it from a true international deep-dive to a half-experimental and half-traditional Pentatonix album.
Ultimately, the issues aren’t songwriting quality or any shortage of talent – the problem is balancing Pentatonix’s desire to explore (which is admirable) with their musical habits. It can be difficult to unlearn a certain performance style, and they’re almost there – but not quite.
“Holidays Around the World” may not catapult itself into history as one of the top Pentatonix holiday albums of all time, but overall, it’s enjoyable to listen to. More importantly, it’s a great showcase of what it means to be challenged, to explore and to create something from another perspective.
