“This has been the biggest labor of love,” Pentatonix’s Kirstin Maldonado says of the group’s latest seasonal album, Christmas in the City. “We’re all just really proud of it.”
The project, which the quintet began planning in January, was inspired by the magic of the holidays in New York and features a bevy of original songs as well as a host of Christmas classics.
On the latest episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Pentatonix’s Maldonado and Matt Sallee join the show to chat about their new album (which marked the act’s 11th top 10 on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart), all things holiday music, and their current tour.
The concept of Christmas In the City was initially sparked by a holiday ornament that Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying spotted at a festive holiday market in New York, says Sallee. That led the group to put together the title track, and soon, the rest of the collection snowballed from there. (And, while the album’s genesis may be owed to the Big Apple, Sallee notes the group is “trying to bring joy” to “every city” with the album and the tour.)
“We really wanted to make this album feel like it was a classic Christmas album paying homage to the ‘40s and the ‘50s and it can live in those classic playlists,” says Sallee, “so that’s a big reason why we used different instrumentation [and] sonics.” Certainly the “classic” vibe is aided by how the album not only showcases Pentatonix’s soaring harmonies, but also boasts dozens of musicians playing live instruments.
Further, more than half of Christmas in the City consists of newly written tunes, with all five of Pentatonix’s members (Mitch Grassi, Hoying, Maldonado, Kevin Olusola and Sallee) writing material on the effort. There are also some familiar favorites present, including “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and a new take on “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” with the late, great Frank Sinatra (who died in 1998).
“They blessed us with his voice,” says Maldonado of the Frank Sinatra Estate, who let Pentatonix use a previously unreleased vocal take of Sinatra singing the Irving Berlin-penned standard. “This arrangement is perfectly what we wanted to achieve within this album too… I feel so proud of it. I love it so much.”
“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” also serves as the album’s first radio-promoted single, and the track jumps 12-9 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary airplay chart dated Dec. 6. It marks the eighth top 10 for Pentatonix and the 21st for Sinatra (and his first since 1980).
JoJo also joins Pentatonix on the album on one of the set’s new originals, “Snowing in Paris.” “She sounds so amazing” on the track, says Maldonado. “She’s so talented and so kind. We love her.” Sallee adds, “She’s so insanely talented and gifted as a vocalist. It’s one of those, like, whoa, speechless moments when you hear her singing on the track. It’s just so good.”
And it wouldn’t be Christmastime without a holiday tour from Pentatonix, as the group has mounted a seasonal trek yearly since 2017 (save for 2020, owed to the COVID-19 pandemic). This year’s tour, aptly titled the Christmas in the City Tour, launched on Nov. 8 and is slated to wrap on Dec. 22 in Fort Worth, Texas. The group will then mount a U.K. and European tour next year that is scheduled to start April 7 in Budapest and continue on through May 3 in Stockholm.
As Pentatonix has become a staple of the holiday touring season, Sallee says he can “recognize faces” of fans who have come to the show year after year. “We’re blessed to be able to be families’ traditions each year. … It’s just such a special, humbling gift that we’re something that could bring a family…together and listen to our music and come to a concert and just have a good time together.”
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Also on the podcast, we’ve got chart news on how there’s a brand-new No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 thanks to Stray Kids’ DO IT; how the Wicked: For Good soundtrack casts a spell on the charts; and how a legendary rock band returns to the Billboard 200 top 10 for the first time in over 10 years. Plus, hosts Katie and Keith chat about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, how holiday music is starting to take over the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and much more.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
