Christmas Is Here

Christmas Is Here is a holiday studio album from Christian Contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath, released on October 15, 2013 by Reunion Records and produced by Ben Shive. The album achieved commercial success and critical acclaim. Background The album was released on October 15, 2013 by Reunion Records and was produced by Ben Shive. Music and lyrics At CCM Magazine, Grace S. Aspinwall stated that his slick contemporary voice lends itself well to this material." Furthermore, Stella Blackburn of Cross Rhythms affirmed that because of Heath's vocal being quite "intimate" that allows him to pull of the tunes that are "imaginative and effective acoustic accompaniments and orchestrations". Calvin Moore of The Christian Manifesto wrote that even though Heath never finds a steady channel with his music it does not sound "disjointed", and further noted what really works is "Heath's lithe tenor vocals, the dreamy instrumentation, and the use of magical backing choral voices here and there." CM Addict's Grace Thorson believed that the listener might be astonished with the lyricism, and at Indie Vision Music Jonathan Andre noted that while the album lacks significantly in the drums and electric guitar it was rectified with excellent "heart, emotion, poignancy, and hope." Andre wrote that the album gets into a myriad of styles and genres with contemplative songs in the vein of jazz, motown, and blues through acoustic and upbeat French horns. At Christian Music Zine, Joshua Andre commented that the album showed Heath was an excellent songwriter and the album highlights his "raw emotion, vocal strength, and knack for creating God inspired moments; it is these facts that overshadow the lack of electric guitar and hard hitting drums." Critical reception