Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Reviewers can't help but bring their personal tastes and preferences to the reviewing process but have to be particularly careful that such tastes and preferences haven't hardened into blinkered prejudice. Recognising my long held aversion to Christmas songs of the Santa and roasting chestnuts variety I approached this album warily. Sure, there were well loved carols like "O Holy Night", "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "The First Noel" here - songs that elegantly portray that most wonderful of wonders, the incarnation - but there were also such grizzly Yuletide evergreens as "Let It Snow" and, even worse, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". So I am relieved to report that such is the quality of Kim's rich, majestic vocals that even when singing Tin Pan Alley banalities the effect is bearable while producer Jeremy Edwardson has avoided the two major pitfalls dragging down most Christmas albums with arrangements that aren't cheap and cheerful nor swamped in an excess of strings and sleigh bells. In fact, the opener, the voice-and-acoustic "Tell Me The Story Of Jesus" leading into two tried and tested hymnal favourites "Silent Night" and "Angels We Have Heard On High" makes for a God-glorifying start to the album. As her Jesus Culture recordings attest, Kim possesses the finest voice in today's modern worship arena. On 'When Christmas Comes' the San Diego-based singer has demonstrated something that Al Green and Russ Taff once showed with their Christmas albums of years ago - that when you have truly exceptional vocal skills you can sing almost anything (even songs about shiny nosed reindeers) and make it enjoyable.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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