Customer Reviews

Invisible Empires

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Each of Sara Groves' albums have received well-deserved acclaim for her premier songwriting ability. Ten years ago, Sara's major label debut album Conversations led to her nomination for Best New Artist. She has followed up each album with her next "best" album with All Right Here and The Other Side of Something. With her three previous INO recordings (now Fair Trade Services), Add to the Beauty, Tell Me What You Know and Fireflies & Songs, Groves focused on a theme and wrote poetic commentary with songs about social justice and the impoverished. Invisible Empires is the landmark tenth album by Sara Groves. This is not Fireflies Part II according to Sara, and I agree. While not a departure from her signature piano-based style, there are several songs that are also filled with strings and guitars.

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" and "It's Me," I always expect at least one of Sara's songs to make me cry. On Invisible Empires there are several personal songs that melt my heart including "Obsolete," "I'll Wait," "Precious Again" and "Finite." There is nobody else in any genre of music including acclaimed GRAMMY Award winning singer-songwriters Adele and Sara Bareilles writing such piercing, relevant and moving songs. If you are looking for an entire album of songs like "Blessings" by Laura Story, look no further than Sara Groves. What's especially cool about this album is how Sara invites listeners into her life by sharing what's on her heart. She dwells on social issues, lays out spiritual truths and worships God all at the same time. "Miracle" beautifully sets the tone for this 5 star masterpiece with her signature piano-based introspective style. This can be gorgeous background music, but don't miss out on what Sara has to say in each song. "Lay down your arms, give up the fight, quiet your hearts for a little while, thinks have been spoken, shouldn't be said, rattles around in our hearts and our heads" are the opening lyrics to "Miracle." Settle in and really allow yourself to experience these songs, especially the next song "Obsolete," my new all-time favorite song by Sara Groves. It is the source of the album title as Sara proclaims about our technology-driven society: "And I don't know where we are, are we passing through these wires, are we walking through the streets of invisible empires?" The song is based on Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." Sara recently read: "The Internet makes everything not enough." When she tenderly sings "are you and I an apparition flickering on the screen...tell me can you really see me?" I well up and the tears start streaming down my face, for the first of many times during this incredible album.

"I'll Wait" is a Brit-rock tinged worship song, which Sara wrote as a reflection of the victory she has felt over a period of intense anxiety that has plagued her. She reads Eugene Peterson's Psalms of Ascent and this song has that psalmist style declaring to God: "I'll wait for You, now more than ever, I see it's true now more than ever, I don't want to do this by myself, I know I need Your help, so I'm waiting for You." The song is such a vulnerable and sincere prayer. You can't help but pray and sing along with Sara. "Open My Hands," "Precious Again" and "Without Love" are all in that same style declaring personal responses to biblical truths in each song. Lead single "Eyes On The Prize" musically is more like "When The Saints" and is Sara's tribute to the work of International Justice Mission with her adaptation of the hymn "The Gospel Plow" singing about Paul and Silas and asking listeners to "keep their eyes on the prize, hold on." Closing track "Finite" was co-written with Jill Phillips and is Sara's response to Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman." As a mother of three young children, Sara sings "I'm not every woman, it's not all in me, I'm proud and guarded, when it comes to my needs...this frenetic obsession's driving me insane, anybody feel that?" She profoundly concludes, "I'm finite, I come to an end, I'm finite, I cannot pretend." Thank you Sara for writing and singing such incredible songs that seep into our hearts, souls and minds. This album soothes, moves and challenges listeners. Invisible Empires is a profound listening experience.

CLOSING THOUGHTS (Staff Review, New Release Tuesday)
Sara's excellent songwriting and captivating piano-based singer-songwriter style have made her my favorite female artist in any genre of music. If you like JJ Heller, Brooke Fraser, Laura Story and Audrey Assad, you must get Invisible Empires by Sara Groves. For me, the standout songs are "Miracle," "I'll Wait, "Open My Hands," "Precious Again," "Eyes On The Prize," "Without Love" and the gut-wrenching personal songs "Obsolete" and "Finite." Truly, every song is amazing. It's hard to imagine, but Sara has now once again released her "best" album topping all of her previous excellent work. Invisible Empires by Sara Groves is the top album of 2011.

I'm someone who generally doesn't like Christian music, but a couple of years ago I bought a discounted download of Sara Groves' previous album, Fireflies and Songs. At the time I didn't realize Groves was a Christian singer, but once I learned that fact, it soon became irrelevant to me as I grew to love her music. Sara's song "It's Me" is the most played song on my MP3 player. What I like so much about Sara is her wonderful, sweet voice and warm singing style, and she also has captivating song arrangements on her albums.

Now there's a new Sara release, Invisible Empires, and it's another winner. Her skill as a songwriter shines through, and she shows signs of expanding her musical horizons a bit. For every few songs that sound like standard Groves material, such as the lovely "Precious Again," there's a more unusual piece like the mildly wacky "Scientists In Japan." On that tune, she integrates all kinds of speculative ideas about DNA, perpetual motion machines, and other wild stuff into a meditation on the meaning of life. (I think?) Then there's "Eyes on the Prize," a nod to the Civil Rights Movement which begins as a soulful stomp before building to an uplifting chorus. It all fits together into another excellent record from Ms Groves.

Each one of Sara Groves' albums has such a distinct character that one might think that they are by different artists. "Invisible Empires" is no exception. Like her other albums, it has memorable tunes, powerful lyrics and pleasant instrumentation. However, this is something different. I won't review each song on the album; however, a couple really stand out. For example, "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" opens with a civil rights era spiritual that quickly moves to connect to Paul and Silas. "Without Love," relates of the exhortations of 1 Corinthians 13, yet it is set in a beautiful matrix of song. Anyone who appreciates "To the Moon" will enjoy "Scientists in Japan," in which she exposes her delightfully quirky approach to songwriting while still delivering a deep message. I thought that "Fireflies and Songs" represented a pinnacle of a master songsmith that would be impossible to pass, but I find "Invisible Empires" to be her best. It is an amazing album.

It would be hard for me to come up with a detailed review that would add helpful information not already well expressed.

I stumbled upon Sara on an Internet radio station about 10 years ago, and continue to be amazed with every new release because each one addresses new themes with incredible insight, honesty, simplicity and the greater depth of a growing life experience. Even so, there is no sense that one album is somehow better than another.

Think of it this way. If someone new to Sara's music asked which album they should start with, what would you say? The first? The last? While each album wrestles with different issues, the musical inventiveness is an unpredictable constant that adds to, but never interferes with, the message. And while the content continues to spread across a wider range of topics, there's never a sense that an earlier song's content somehow needed to be revised or improved. That in itself is incredible.

This album is filled with inspiring, thoughtful songs. Sara Groves continues to write & perform songs that touch my heart & give me hope.

I am amazed at her ability to craft songs that speak to challenging global realities while still relating to the struggles of my daily life. Rather than simply speaking to the personal challenges of spiritual living - which might cause me to move into only personal introspection - her songs have continully been a message from God to help heal my pain & then inspire me to share the same message with the world around me. Her music has played a special role in my process of learning to heal & learning to give.

Bravo to Sara Groves for holding to this unique balance & continually producing beautiful songs in the process.

"Miracle" is a stunning opening to Invisible Empires by Sara Groves. It stops me.

Opening songs are often upbeat, but this is a beautiful, pensive ballad that makes me listen. I suddenly want to hear what I have not heard and see what I have not seen.

It is the antidote to Groves' question to her friend Jill Phillips, "Do you feel that?" "I feel like the pace of life keeps getting faster and faster," Groves explained. "Everything feels so frenetic these days."

On "Precious Again," Groves asks, "Where is the wonder?" Image is a journal that features the words "Art," "Faith," and "Mystery" on every spine and across the top of each issue. Often I am too dull to feel it, but these elements combine to break through my stupor.

It is what makes Invisible Empires appealing. There is depth that I can plumb. There is sophistication that makes me marvel. These songs take me to places inside myself, reminding me of the wonder awakened by music.

It can also be sobering. "Eyes on the Prize" is dedicated to International Justice Mission, an organization that seeks to bring justice to victims of sex trafficking and other types of enslavement. It is an encouragement to be in it for the "long haul."

"Pain is no measure of His faithfulness," Groves sings on "Open My Hands." "He withholds no good thing from us." The lyrics point out the fallacy of measuring God's steadfast love by circumstance rather than His unchanging word.

"Right Now" is somewhat of a curiosity at only 48 seconds in length. At first, I thought it was a tacked-on ending to the preceding song. Actually, it's a swift kick-in-the-pants. It is recognizing that we can do what God wants us to do. No excuse allowed.

"Finite," written with Jill Phillips, is a witty rejoinder to Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman." I relish the weariness: "What God meant by woman, I'm hard pressed to find." It reminds me of the apostle Paul's sublime thought of glorying in weakness so that the power of Christ would rest upon him.

For the thoughtful, there is much to explore on this CD. It is not as loud as some of her previous work but there is plenty of subtle variation. It may be her best yet.

This is part of the invisible empire that God is building. Groves has not labored in vain. Our work is never perfect, but God shines through providing glimpses of His glory. Listen and be in awe of what God can do with an open hand and heart.

This CD is absolutely gorgeous. Every song on it is wonderful, full of beauty, longing, faith and hope. I have a feeling when I get to heaven, the angels will sound a lot like this ridiculously talented artist.

[..] highly recommends Grove's latest offering and have made her artist of the month!