Customer Reviews

Fireflies And Songs

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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.

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.

Sara Groves has an uncanny knack -- no, a rare gift -- for writing songs about issues that are off the beaten path of well worn pop music tropes and writing about them with a searing poignancy. She writes about aspects of life and faith with lyrics that require searching thought. More often than not, her songs end up teaching me something about my own life. Topics include the pressures and temptations of materialism and worldly success, the nature and difficulty of active love and forgiveness in our relationships, and the challenge of responding to God's love for us by displaying it in our own lives. Not bubble gum stuff.

Fireflies and Songs continues the trend with a greater emphasis on our challenges here in the world. Ms. Groves sings about problems we all encounter -- unmet expectations, damaged relationships, anxiety, and loneliness (I'm not the only one, people!) -- in ways that portray the underlying dynamic with piercing honesty. But Ms. Groves doesn't stop there. She suggests ways we can find hope and healing -- through friendship, service to others, and a remembrance of what God did to display his love for us. She reminds us of things that are all too easy to forget.

The music is in the quiet style of acoustic pop (with a little bluegrass thrown in this time!)and complements Ms. Goves' subtle and thought-provoking lyrics. The album has a well produced sound. Ms. Grove's singing is pure and matches the authenticity of her lyrics. All in all, a sublime effort. Highly recommended.

This album is both authentic and beautiful. As a wife, mother, and still relatively-young adult, each of these songs spoke directly to where I am in life right now. Listening to the album straight through for the first time, it honestly felt like God had prepared the music just for me. It is wonderful that music like this exists -- straight from the soul, from a person who clearly has both "life experience" (in particular, I mean past the honeymoon stage of marriage but still in love) and a personal relationship with God. My husband also enjoys the album, and the lyrics have been a good starting point for conversation.

Wow, really nice singer/song-writer, from the heart, feel-good music!
So glad I stumbled onto this one -- Amazon totally got the cross-sell/upsell right on this for me, it was a perfect recommendation!

I have to agree with the 2 star rating by K. Lacey "Crustaceo" (FL) on this album. I fell in love with Sara Groves' work awhile ago with my favorite albums being Conversations, All Right Here, Past The Wishing, and Add to the Beauty. I have most of her albums and this is by far the worst one out there, and for many reasons already stated by K. Lacey. Most of the songs in her previous albums centered on the most important relationship a man or woman can have, and that's our sacred relationship with God. And it's this mutual bond that has drawn me to her songs in the past, but I believe she takes a strong turn from this in Fireflies and Songs. I don't deny this album has Christian notions, but more often than not they are just overtones. Listen to some samples and youtube some of the songs to prove my point. But despite this album she's still one of my faves and has been a blessing to me. Definitely check out her other albums though, and I personally recommend the albums I stated earlier.

This is the most memorably CD I have purchased in the last 12 months. Deep, complex lyrics. Hauntingly lovely music. The band is tight and together, and they make everything work. Not for the casual listener ... I had to pull out the lyrics and read along once or twice to really get the impact. But when I did I cried.

If you are looking for quality contemporary Christian music, this is a good place to start. Thanks, Sara.

This is not just a collection of songs, this is life. Chords and melodies intertwined with the joy and sadness of living authentically. If these songs don't mirror your own experience and give you hope, I'm not sure anything will. There's an ache and a yearning for something more here, something good and true. This album leaves you craving more of what is real rather than the veneer. There aren't enough stars for it.

Thank you Sara for another amazing album! Your music and the depth of lyrics moves my wife and I. We appreciate your ministry and pray that we can have you come do a concert in our church in the future.

Pastor Jerry Ingalls
First Baptist Church
Family Life Center
New Castle, Indiana

This is a wonderful, wonderful album, featuring Sara Groves with her piano in the forefront once again. It's as if the albums have come full circle, musically, back around to her first release. Charlie Peacock did an excellent job as producer, encouraging Sara not to tie herself down to a rigid theme, but to simply write songs. That was great advice. The piano is highlighted in various ways by various instruments, including harmonicas, jazz drums, and even a vibraphone (I think). Definitely an album coming from a distinctly female POV, and its Christianness is implied rather than stated until the very last cut, which ends with a strong hallelujah to Jesus Christ. The project leans a bit far into melancholia in the middle, and perks back up with some bluegrass energy on "Settin' Up The Pins." I sometimes pass over the two previous songs (# 5 + 6), if I'm not in the mood for sad songs. But over-all, an outstanding album.

Sara Groves is my absolute favorite artist. I had been eagerly anticipating the new album and I was most definitely not disappointed. 'Fireflies and Songs' is just beautiful. There's no other way to describe the simplicity and utter honesty of this record. I've listened to "Joy Is In Our Hearts" too many times to count already. One of the reasons I love Sara Groves is that she isn't afraid to tackle life with all of it's joy and pain. Buy this album and prepared to fall in love with it.