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  Sara
Groves
"add to the beauty"
( 2005 Sponge; INO Records / Asaph
Musik )
(English
review version)
Colorful pop soundscapes with drive
This sixth release (produced by Brown Bannister) is not only Sara
Groves' album with the most songwriters' teamwork (Ed Cash, Gordon
Kennedy, Matt Bronlewee, Joel Hanson), but also the most rhythm driven.
The warm sound with a lot of piano and guitars is enriched with Rhodes,
B3, cello, English horn and a so-called scitando harp and weaves on the
smooth pop tapestry of Station Wagon (2005, independent). The straight
forward folk-pop-feel and the narrative, honest lyrics paint pictures
of hope and faith amidst our everydayness and very much recall the label
debut of this gifted Minnesotan singer-songwriter with her softly melancholic
voice: Conversations (2000/01, INO).
When God is writing our life's story
Whether she tells about a couple that found forgiveness and renewed oneness
after an affair ("When It Was Over"); whether she celebrates
the awakening to a life fully alive ("Just Showed Up", the music
of Joel Hanson reminds of their rhythmic duet Traveling Light); or whether
she sings about the »beauty of seeing things through«
in the gentle piano ballad Loving A Person–Sara Groves always shows
how amazingly beautifully and redemptive God can work in our lives: renewing,
healing, and even rewriting tragedies (charmingly floating: "Rewrite
This Tragedy").
 »This
is grace: an invitation to be beautiful.«
"You Are The Sun," a soaring pop-song, addresses Jesus as the
Light of the world. He is the sun, we are like moons meant to reflect
his light. Without Him we are »cold dark stones.« It's
God in his grace who causes changes ("Something Changed," a
Sarah-McLachlan-like answer to "Like A Skin") and enables us
to tell a better story in a world so full of heartless and cruel news
("Add To The Beauty"). As she told us in our interview [at
ccmtexte.de] in March, Sara Groves is inspired by 2 Peter 1:5-8 and
a remark by Mother Teresa: »You can do no
great things, just small things with great love.« It's those
small things that may bring great blessing and reveal the kingdom of God:
blessing instead of cursing, trust instead of suspicion, compassion instead
of selfishness …
»…
That's a little stone that's a little mortar / That's a little seed that's
a little water
In the hearts of the sons and the daughters / The kingdom's coming.«
(~ "Kingdom Comes")
A varied and well-rounded collection of songs
There are a few more laid-back, more unplugged songs besides the forward-driven
and soaring tracks: The whimsical miniature "To The Moon" once
more reminds me of Billy Joel's troubadour style. True pearls are Loving
a Person about love without condition and holding together and the almost
classical Why It Matters–with a great cello solo by John Catchings–about
the importance of songwriting and arts in our time. The "Reprise"
of "When It Was Over" (the first four tracks all end in playful
Outros) finally leads back to the beginning.
In short: For me, this cd with its autumnal cover art is one of her most
beautiful ones–with the smooth, charming melodies, with its rhythm
driven, atmospheric and warm sound, with its wide stylistic spectrum between
familiar and subtle new, and with the hopeful, poetic lyrics. Our world
really is in need of such beauty that tells God's redemptive story in
a creative way!
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