When one follows their vocation, there’s no time to waste in diving head first into their passion, to give everything of themselves to the calling. Perhaps this is why Sarah Kroger is releasing music at a near frantic pace in 2024.
Kroger has already released an incredibly beautiful album titled A New Reality, a deeply personal and reflective album, in the spring. The work was just brimming with Catholic contemplation and worship songs that really let the singer show off her vocal range. Now, however, she’s released two new singles, hinting at another album in the works.
Galaxies
In September, she put out “Galaxies,” an upbeat tune that creates a laid back atmosphere. Musically, it is very poppy, driven by muted plucking on the guitar that gives a feeling of steadily trudging forward. If it’s on in the background, one might even think it was a rarely heard radio classic.
Lyrically, the song is a prayer, sung directly to God in praise of his creation. She begins by noting that God created the universe, with the Earth as its cornerstone, and she points out the beauty that is “all around us,” in the world. Like a microscope zooming in deeper, she leads the listener to the creation of the “galaxies within us.”
You set galaxies within us
Fingerprints of heaven
We are images of glory
Echoing your presence
How precious are Your thoughts of man
outnumbering the stars and every grain of sand
The Gardener
Not even a full month after “Galaxies,” Kroger outdid herself with her second summer release, “Gardener.” This time singing directly to Jesus, this song is a lovely prayer for grace. She asks for Jesus to be with her and to “let there be patience, kindness and goodness in me.” Referencing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, it is a song of surrender in which she asks the Lord to “do what you have to do,” to “make me pure, make me holy, for me to bear your fruit.”
The lovely sentiment is wrapped up in a downright gorgeous melody that is simple enough for any cantor to sing, while complex enough to keep the listener engaged. Accompanied by a solo piano, with a backup vocal for layering, this ardent hymn would be perfectly at home in a liturgical or prayer service.
Follow Sarah Kroger on YouTube to keep up with all her releases.
