''Pentatonix'' is the fourth studio album by American

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements wit ...

, which was released on October 16, 2015. The release date was announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

by a series of pictures featuring the five band members released over a five-day-span, with one band member added to the picture each day, culminating in the date being revealed on August 28. It is the group's seventh release overall in their discography. This is the first release of the band to feature predominantly original material (the only covers being the cover of

Shai Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes considered femal ...

's "

If I Ever Fall in Love "If I Ever Fall in Love" is the debut single by American R&B-soul quartet Shai, released by Gasoline Alley and MCA Records in September 1992 from their debut album of the same name (1992). The song, both written and produced by Carl "Groove" M ...

" and the bonus tracks on the deluxe version of the album). ''Pentatonix'' also marks the first time band members receive individual songwriting credits for the majority of the tracks. ''Pentatonix'' debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with 98,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s, with the album being their first No. 1 album on the chart.

Critical reception

The album received mostly positive reviews from critics. Matt Collar of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "Ultimately, by moving away from cover tunes, Pentatonix have helped push the a cappella style even further into the pop spotlight. That the only instruments they've used to do it are their voices makes their achievement all the more impressive." In an online review, Brittany Spanos of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the album a 2.5 out of 5 star review, criticizing the lyrics and saying that the album "lacks any oomph to go with their well-honed chops."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 8 in New Zealand and number 1 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. In the US, the album started with 98,000

s (88,000 in pure album sales).

Track listing

Personnel

; Pentatonix *

Scott Hoying Scott Hoying (born September 17, 1991)Nguyen, Mindy (December 19, 2016A Pentatonix Christmas (Music Review)The Lion's Roar is an American singer, musician and songwriter who came to international attention as the baritone of the a cappella group ...

–

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Mitch Grassi Mitchell Coby Michael Grassi (born July 24, 1992) is an American singer from Arlington, Texas. Known for his high tenor voice, Grassi came to international attention as a founding performer in two groups—the a cappella quintet Pentatonix, and ...

–

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

lead and backing vocals *

Kirstin Maldonado Kirstin Taylor Maldonado (born May 16, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for being a vocalist in the a cappella group Pentatonix. With the group, she has released seven studio albums, won three Grammy Awards, and sold over si ...

–

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

lead and backing vocals *

Avi Kaplan Avriel Benjamin Kaplan (born April 17, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for being the former vocal bass of the a cappella group Pentatonix from 2011 to 2017. As a part of the group, he released five studio albums, won three ...

– vocal bass,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

lead and backing vocals *

Kevin Olusola Kevin Oluwole Olusola, also known as K.O., (born October 5, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter, beatboxer, and cellist. Olusola is best known as the beatboxer of the a cappella group Pentatonix. After the group won NBC's ''The Sing-Off'' in ...

–

vocal percussion Vocal percussion is the art of creating sounds with one's mouth that approximate, imitate, or otherwise serve the same purpose as a percussion instrument, whether in a group of singers, an instrumental ensemble, or solo. In Western music Recent ...

beatboxing Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a Roland TR-808, TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

; Additional personnel * Pentatonix, Thaddus "Kuk" Harrell, Martin Johnson, Ed Boyer, Drew Pearson, Ben Bram –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

– vocals on "If I Ever Fall in Love" * Tink – vocals on "Can't Sleep Love" * Members of A Cappella Academy Retreat as background vocals on "Misbehavin'", "New Year's Day", and "To the River" * Members of recording studio as background vocals on "Lean On"

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References