You can easily spot a novice: he is usually the one who allows the song to interpret him.  Instead of finding his own voice and exegeting meaning out of a song, he is always finding ways to make himself sound like someone else or trying to format a song into a preconceived sound.  But with veterans like Kingdom Heirs, they own their own songs.  Cannily they have a way of getting into the skin of each paean, soak up every nuance of the song's core, before recreating them as their very own breathing in their own experiences and emotions.  Thus, regardless of whether they are singing a more contemporary entry like Matthew West's "The Heart of Christmas" or a traditional carol like "Do You Hear What I Hear?" or even a jazzy piece like "The Man with the Bag," they are all stamped with the Kingdom Heirs' own patent.  If you can count on this reviewer's arithmetic, "The Heart of Christmas" is Kingdom Heir's fifth Christmas offering following 2010's "It's Christmas." 

Formed in 1981, Kingdom Heirs is one of the Southern Gospel's pillars with their extensive oeuvre of songs  such as the #1 hits "Just Preach Jesus," "I Know I'm Going There" and "Forever Changed."  Further, they have won almost every permutation of accolades at the Dove Awards, the SGMA Awards and the Singing Fan Awards. Kicking off the record is Kingdom Heir's take of Matthew West's recent Billboard Christian Singles #2 hit "The Heart of Christmas." Here on admirable display is the group's acumen of timing: instead of thoughtlessly diving into the song, they take the time to gently prod us to question if we have missed the heart of Christmas in the midst of the season's hurriedness.  They don't get to crescendo about how Christmas has a name until they have finally captured our attention; this is when the group comes out in full force with their tightly interwoven harmonies and their electric guitar blasts. The Kingdom Heirs' rendition of the title cut "The Heart of Christmas" is a sublime piece of art not to be missed.  

The title cut "The Heart of Christmas" is not only track that radiates with artistic ingenuity, "Go Tell/Go Tell It on the Mountains" also brims with creativity.  Our hats are off to producers Jeff Collins and Arthur Rice for the brilliance of knitting two similarly themed songs together in such a seamless tapestry that calls on our need to spread the word about Christ's advent.  And more welcoming surprises are in store when Jeff Chapman transports us with his low-hitting bass into the jazzy bygone eras of torch songs and waltzes with Red West's "If Every Day was Like Christmas."  Tailored from the same jazzy cloth is Kingdom Heir's bouncy take of Irving Taylor, Dudley Brooks and Hal Stanley's "Man with the Bag." Still in the spirit of nostalgia is the Kingdom Heir's take of "Linus and Lucy." A song that invokes the sounds of generations passed when "Linus and Lucy" first appeared on the Vince Guaraldi Trio's 1964 "Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown."  Later, the song became the theme the de facto theme song of the "Peanuts" franchise and it was also played so incessantly during the holiday season that it was deemed a "Christmas" song.

If you are a fan of Kingdom Heir's layered harmonies, you will definitely put "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" on repeat.  And they do get into some boogie country funk with the trumpet jammed "Little Baby Boy" that boasts a co-write from Rebecca J. Peck and Phil Barfoot.  "The Heart of Christmas," in sum, finds Kingdom Heirs tackling quite a diverse bunch of songs from contemporary Christian to jazz to some oldies but it's far from a jigsaw effort.  Rather, they have made each of these 10 cuts their own in what is unmistakably one of their best Christmas offerings to date.