Penatonix‘s new Christmas album, Evergreen, is out Friday, and next month, they’ll do launch first tour since the pandemic. But since they released a Christmas album in 2020, why put out another one so soon? Member Scott Hoying it’s because after 2020, they just wanted to sing together in the same room.

“We knew we were going to tour, so we wanted some, some new stuff, but then also…studios were open again, so we…were just excited for the five of us to get together in a studio and brainstorm and sing and improvise and arrange together,” he tells ABC Audio.

“It was like a really fun organic process that we had been craving after lockdown,” notes Scott, adding, “We just, honestly, wanted to create.”

Evergreen features special guests Alessia Cara and Lindsey Stirling, Christmas classics, and songs that aren’t really about Christmas, but fit the theme — like “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

“I heard someone singing it on TikTok and I was like, ‘Oh, I love this song so much, we should do it,'” Scott says of the Stevie Wonder hit. “Then I was looking through the lyrics and it’s like, ‘Christmas Day…’ and I was like, ‘Oh, perfect! It mentions Christmas! And it’s about love and calling your loved ones!”

The group’s Evergreen Christmas tour starts November 27 in Baltimore and wraps up in December with two shows in Texas.  Member Matt Sallee says fans are “stoked” — and so are they.

“I feel like we’ve been with these people, three or four times a year, y’know, we see them so often,” he says of their fans. “And so to not see them for almost two years is crazy! So it’s going to be good for both of us.”