|
1. Fireflies and Songs
2. From This One Place
3. Different Kinds of Happy
4. Twice As Good
5. It's Me
6. This House
7. Setting Up The Pins
8. Love
2. From This One Place
3. Different Kinds of Happy
4. Twice As Good
5. It's Me
6. This House
7. Setting Up The Pins
8. Love
Fireflies and Songs
[Release Date: November 17, 2009] (INO Records)
Track Listing:
Track Listing:
9. Like A Lake
10. Eyes Wide Open
11. Joy Is In Our Hearts
10. Eyes Wide Open
11. Joy Is In Our Hearts
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
3.8 out of 4
2.8 out of 3
2.0 out of 2
0.9 out of 1
9.5 out of 10
Message
Music
Production
Creativity
Overall Score
| 95% A |
"This one is the songwriter's album for sure." Almost as an afterthought, Sara Groves
concludes an in-depth conversation about her new recording, Fireflies & Songs. Well
put. At the same time, it should be pointed out that Sara's parting descriptor is a
testament to how the album was approached and recorded rather than a proclamation of
Fireflies' superiority over her other widely-esteemed work. With her two previous INO
recordings, 2005’s Add to the Beauty, which includes “You Are The Sun”, and 2007’s
Tell Me What You Know, which includes “I Saw What I Saw”, Groves focused on a
theme and wrote poetic commentary with songs about social justice and the
impoverished.
However, early in the pre-production process of Fireflies & Songs INO Record’s
president Jeff Moseley suggested that "It's been a long time since we've heard from
you," saying, "I want to check in with you. What's happening now in your life? What is
life like for you as a wife, mother, daughter and friend?" Sara's songwriting has long
been ubiquitously described as extremely "vulnerable", "honest", "transparent", "intimate"
and "real."
Each of Sara’s albums have received well-deserved acclaim for her premier songwriting
ability. Sara’s major label debut album Conversations includes “The Word” and she was
nominated for best new artist. She has followed up each album with her next “best”
album with 2002’s All Right Here which includes “Less Like Scars”, and 2004’s The
Other Side of Something which includes “The One Thing I Know”.
“Fireflies And Songs” begins with Sara musing about “30 years ago I was a little girl “
hearing a woman singing “you don’t bring me flowers anymore”. As a late 30’s male
who grew up listening to that same song when I was a little boy, I immediately identified
with Sara’s reference and also having 3 young children, I found every reference
amazingly relevant as I’ve also been married for 15 years, same as Sara. She continues
with “From This One Place”, which had me praying along with Sara in response to bouts
of anxiety. “Different Kinds of Happy” is another one of Sara’s classic songs of
vulnerability with these lyrics “I’ve got to ask you something, but please don’t be afraid,
there’s a promise here that’s heavier, than your answer might weigh”. “Twice As
Good” is a relational song to one of Sara’s friends.
Each of her albums has always had at least one song that pulls my heart strings and
brings out an emotional response. From “Maybe There’s A Loving God” to “I Saw
What I Saw”, I always expect at least one of Sara’s songs to make me cry. On Fireflies
& Songs that song is “It’s Me”. The picture of how a husband and wife hurt each other
with emotional wounding words is capped off by Sara’s crying out to the boy she loves
“it’s me, baby it’s me, how in the world can tenderness be gone, in the blink of an eye”.
The song makes me cry just writing about it. “This House” is written to Sara’s daughter
Ruby and is based on Psalm 84:11. The album ends with two of my all-time favorite
songs by Sara, “Eyes Wide Open” and “Joy Is In Our Hearts”. “Eyes Wide Open” is
confessional with the lyrics “I’ve got layers of lies that I don’t even know about yet” and
concludes with “when the lights come up on this town, when the thing goes down, I
wanna be telling the truth”. “Joy Is In Our Hearts” is worshipful and was written to
encourage believers serving on the front lines of social justice. Sara is an avid supporter
of International Justice Mission and Food For The Hungry.
Closing Thoughts:
Sara’s excellent songwriting and captivating piano-based singer-songwriter style have
made her my favorite female artist in all of Christian music. If you like Nichole
Nordeman, Ginny Owens and Bethany Dillon, you must get Fireflies & Songs. For me,
the standout songs are “Fireflies & Songs”, “Different Kinds of Happy”, “Eyes Wide
Open”, “Joy Is In Our Hearts” and the gut-wrenching “It’s Me”. It’s hard to imagine,
but Sara has now once again released her “best” album topping all of her previous
excellent work. This is one of my top 10 albums of 2009.
concludes an in-depth conversation about her new recording, Fireflies & Songs. Well
put. At the same time, it should be pointed out that Sara's parting descriptor is a
testament to how the album was approached and recorded rather than a proclamation of
Fireflies' superiority over her other widely-esteemed work. With her two previous INO
recordings, 2005’s Add to the Beauty, which includes “You Are The Sun”, and 2007’s
Tell Me What You Know, which includes “I Saw What I Saw”, Groves focused on a
theme and wrote poetic commentary with songs about social justice and the
impoverished.
However, early in the pre-production process of Fireflies & Songs INO Record’s
president Jeff Moseley suggested that "It's been a long time since we've heard from
you," saying, "I want to check in with you. What's happening now in your life? What is
life like for you as a wife, mother, daughter and friend?" Sara's songwriting has long
been ubiquitously described as extremely "vulnerable", "honest", "transparent", "intimate"
and "real."
Each of Sara’s albums have received well-deserved acclaim for her premier songwriting
ability. Sara’s major label debut album Conversations includes “The Word” and she was
nominated for best new artist. She has followed up each album with her next “best”
album with 2002’s All Right Here which includes “Less Like Scars”, and 2004’s The
Other Side of Something which includes “The One Thing I Know”.
“Fireflies And Songs” begins with Sara musing about “30 years ago I was a little girl “
hearing a woman singing “you don’t bring me flowers anymore”. As a late 30’s male
who grew up listening to that same song when I was a little boy, I immediately identified
with Sara’s reference and also having 3 young children, I found every reference
amazingly relevant as I’ve also been married for 15 years, same as Sara. She continues
with “From This One Place”, which had me praying along with Sara in response to bouts
of anxiety. “Different Kinds of Happy” is another one of Sara’s classic songs of
vulnerability with these lyrics “I’ve got to ask you something, but please don’t be afraid,
there’s a promise here that’s heavier, than your answer might weigh”. “Twice As
Good” is a relational song to one of Sara’s friends.
Each of her albums has always had at least one song that pulls my heart strings and
brings out an emotional response. From “Maybe There’s A Loving God” to “I Saw
What I Saw”, I always expect at least one of Sara’s songs to make me cry. On Fireflies
& Songs that song is “It’s Me”. The picture of how a husband and wife hurt each other
with emotional wounding words is capped off by Sara’s crying out to the boy she loves
“it’s me, baby it’s me, how in the world can tenderness be gone, in the blink of an eye”.
The song makes me cry just writing about it. “This House” is written to Sara’s daughter
Ruby and is based on Psalm 84:11. The album ends with two of my all-time favorite
songs by Sara, “Eyes Wide Open” and “Joy Is In Our Hearts”. “Eyes Wide Open” is
confessional with the lyrics “I’ve got layers of lies that I don’t even know about yet” and
concludes with “when the lights come up on this town, when the thing goes down, I
wanna be telling the truth”. “Joy Is In Our Hearts” is worshipful and was written to
encourage believers serving on the front lines of social justice. Sara is an avid supporter
of International Justice Mission and Food For The Hungry.
Closing Thoughts:
Sara’s excellent songwriting and captivating piano-based singer-songwriter style have
made her my favorite female artist in all of Christian music. If you like Nichole
Nordeman, Ginny Owens and Bethany Dillon, you must get Fireflies & Songs. For me,
the standout songs are “Fireflies & Songs”, “Different Kinds of Happy”, “Eyes Wide
Open”, “Joy Is In Our Hearts” and the gut-wrenching “It’s Me”. It’s hard to imagine,
but Sara has now once again released her “best” album topping all of her previous
excellent work. This is one of my top 10 albums of 2009.
Review Written By: Kevin Davis [kevin.davis@christianmusicreview.org] Date Written: November 3, 2009
Review Rating
How do we rate our reviews? Click here for more information.
Additional Reviews
Main Review & Closing Thoughts
+ None
| [Album Review] |
| Sara Groves |