On Sept. 23, Pentatonix released their fourth album and announced a Christmas album already available for pre-order. Pentatonix is the leading a cappella group of our generation. From being discovered on NBC’s The Sing Off in 2011 to becoming Internet and music sensations today, they are a force to be reckoned with. They have created a strong fan base that spans all over the world, and the group just recently finished a world tour. PTX Vol. III is their most recent collection of covers, as well as some promising originals.
Starting out with “Problem,” their cover of the wildly popular Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea collaboration, which features some of the best beat boxing I’ve ever heard from their percussionist Kevin Olusola. Every member is immensely talented, but without Kevin and their bassist Avriel “Avi” Kaplan, it would just be three people singing together; they are what makes this group sound like it’s using real instruments. Especially in “Problem,” Avi’s low bass voice is unreal–he can put any synth machine to shame. The song even comes with a funny rendition of the high male voice part in Iggy’s rap by Mitch Grassi. The music video gives you a good idea of how all the parts are split up and shows how much sound they can create with only five people.
They even covered the recent hit “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne. The versatility of all these singers really shines through in this one. Kirstie Maldonado, who is usually the high soprano part, takes the lead with a lower alto, and Mitch shows off his pipes reaching the high soprano part. Scott Hoying, the other lead singer, Kirstie, and Mitch all have crazy ranges and can be any voice part that they want. It’s really hard not to notice the immense talent that is in this group.
“See Through” is one of their three original songs on this album. It’s the traditional four-part a cappella style with a percussion part, but they use their resources of talent like Mitch, who is the lead for this song and shows off that impeccable range of his. The performers use a lot of build in this song; their voices float from louder to softer so easily and add a lot of drama to the piece. I would say this is the best original song on the album.
They also took a really interesting risk on this album with their cover of “Papaoutai.” Belgian singer Stromae originally sang this song and they even added famous YouTube violin player Lindsey Stirling. The risk was that this song is entirely in French. Luckily, the risk paid off. This is one of the best songs on the album and is a lot of fun. Scott sings and raps his way through this French hit and even Kevin joins in with his cello, since he also happens to be an amazing cello player. The video is a sort of homage to the original song’s music video. Pentatonix is seen in full doll make-up, and although I think it’s a little creepy and ridiculous, it’s all in good fun.
It’s easy to see why Pentatonix is doing so well. The pure and amazing talent in this one group is something to note. Each member has a role, but that doesn’t mean they never switch roles. Overall, it’s immensely impressive. Even our own DU a cappella group, Exit 205, has been inspired by Pentatonix and has performed their song “Run To You.” Pentatonix is inspiring people all over the world and truly making a name for a cappella.
