Pentatonix Talk Holiday to-Do Lists, Touring and Christmas Hits Album Celebrating 12-Year Career (Exclusive)
The Greatest Christmas Hits album is out, including eight new songs, is out now
It's not the holiday season without Pentatonix.
The a cappella group released their latest holiday album, The Greatest Christmas Hits, and announced they are gearing up for their 2023 North American Christmas tour, The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year, on Oct. 20
In light of the holiday news, the group, which consists of members Kirstin Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee, spoke to PEOPLE about the album, going back on the road and revealed their must-dos this holiday season.
"I feel like album is what we've been working towards. It's a summary of our entire 12-year career now," Hoying, 32, tells PEOPLE of the album. "It's the song that got us our record deal, the song that really went viral on YouTube and blew up our That's Christmas to Me album. It's all these hits that tell the story of Pentatonix's Christmas journey."
Adding, "It's so cool to look through this track list and be like, wow, we've really done a lot these past 12 years."
In addition to the greatest hits we know and love by the group, the album also includes eight new tracks like "Little Toy Trains," "Oh Holy Night," "Kiss from a Rose" — and their previously released single "Please Santa Please."
And if fans didn't think the album was exciting enough, the group also has star-studded features on the LP, including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Meghan Trainor, Tori Kelly, Alessia Cara, Jazmine Sullivan — and Elvis Presley!
"It's about doing it right. You want to honor his iconic voice and his iconic career," Olusola, 35, says of getting the King of Rock and Roll's vocals on "O Little Town of Bethlehem." "At the same time bring what we do to it to elevate not just what we do, but what he does with his vocal, so I think it's just a very, very delicate balance and it took a lot of time to figure out that out."
The group, who is kicking off The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year on Nov. 14, also shared why they're excited to go back on the road only two months after wrapping up their world tour.
Courtesy pentatonix
Pentatonix"Before the pandemic, we were like, 'Let's do a world tour. What could go wrong in the next couple of years?' But honestly, it was nice that our tour was so fun and our crew was amazing, we loved the show because that kept us going," says Hoying.
"It's so beautiful and there's so much love in the room," he continues, while Maldonado, 31, adds that it has been a "challenging" yet "rewarding" year for the group — and they're excited to close that out with the Christmas tour.
In between touring, the group also looks forward to their holiday activities — like driving to see twinkling Christmas lights.
"One thing that my wife and I want to do is take Kaia, our daughter, to Beverly Hills because they do really beautiful lights and tinsel everywhere, that's my wife's favorite place to go," says Olusola. "This is [Kaia's] first Christmas where she can be really present with what Christmas can actually mean, and so I'm very, very excited for her to take that in."
Grassi, 31, hopes to get his holiday shopping done early this year, while Hoying looks forward to holiday dates with his husband.
"I'm a recently married man and I feel like it'd be fun to do the driving through Christmas lights and really put in the effort to do couply romantic things and just celebrate our first Christmas," said Hoying.
Related: Pentatonix's Scott and Mitch Reveal Their 'Legend Status' Favorite Celeb Musical Collaborations
Sallee, 29, adds, "I also feel like piggybacking off of that, the couply things, too. I think this would be the first year we're doing the switch since I got married of Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this will be the first Christmas that my wife spends with my family, and so that'll be really, really special."
For Maldonado, being a mom is "the most amazing thing in the world" and she loves her "mommy daughter time."
"Eliana came on tour with us last year when she was 4? months... but her awareness now is so much different, obviously a year later," she says. "I feel like doing a bunch of cute lights and family Christmas markets and things, trying to find those throughout tour when they're around would be so fun, making those memories on tour with her."
Hoying adds, "It's good for us to get to see you see her grow up, too. When she first started walking and stuff, I was like, 'I can't believe I'm here for this iconic moment!'"
The Greatest Christmas Hits is out now.
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