Prime Cuts: Ave Maria, Creator of the Stars of the Night, Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
Overall Grade: ★★★★½ / 5
With Hymns: Advent, Sarah Kroger opens a new artistic chapter-one rooted in the ancient beauty of the church's hymnal yet carried by her distinctively modern, contemplative touch. As the first in a planned series of hymns projects, this EP sets the bar high with its spiritual depth, musical restraint, and pastoral warmth.
Kroger has long been known for her tender vocal phrasing and reverent delivery, and here she leans fully into that gift. Rather than presenting Advent as a season of bright festivity, she captures its truer emotional landscape: longing, holy anticipation, and the quiet hope of light breaking into the world's darkness. Each track feels like an invitation to breathe, reflect, and prepare room for the mystery of Christ's coming.
The EP is anchored by her luminous take on "Ave Maria." Instead of the operatic flourishes typically associated with the piece, Kroger offers an intimate, prayer-like rendition. Her understated phrasing and minimal accompaniment allow the text's quiet reverence to shine. It is one of the most devotional and emotionally grounded "Ave Maria" recordings in recent memory.
Her version of "Joy to the World" is equally arresting. Kroger embraces the hymn's original identity as an Advent text-one announcing the coming King rather than celebrating His birth. The arrangement trades triumphalism for tender expectancy, giving the familiar melody a new contemplative glow.
But the heart of this record is found just as strongly in some of the ancient hymns Kroger chooses to revive.
"Creator of the Stars of the Night," one of the oldest hymns in the Western tradition, receives a particularly moving treatment. Kroger's gentle vocal lines illuminate the hymn's cosmic language-Christ as the Light who pierces the night, the One who enters a world "deep in shadow." The minimalist arrangement lets the weight of the text sit front and center, reminding listeners that Advent begins not at the manger but in the ache of human longing.
Her rendition of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" is equally elegant. Kroger resists the tendency to over-sentimentalize the hymn, instead offering a reading marked by simplicity and warmth. The soft instrumental bed-likely a blend of piano, strings, and subtle ambient textures-allows her voice to bloom like the rose the hymn describes. She captures the hymn's dual beauty: the fragility of the Incarnation and the promise that God brings new life from barren places.
"What Child Is This" brings a familiar melody, but Kroger imbues it with fresh depth. Rather than leaning on its Christmas familiarity, she slows the pacing just enough to highlight the question at the hymn's core. The way she shapes the line "whom angels greet with anthem sweet" feels both awed and intimate. The classic Greensleeves melody is kept intact, but the restrained arrangement makes the song feel like a quiet meditation rather than a seasonal standard.
Taken together, these songs reveal Kroger's artistic and pastoral instincts. She approaches each hymn not as a museum artifact but as a living prayer-something meant to guide listeners through the shifting seasons of the soul. Her voice becomes a companion, not a performer; her arrangements become invitations to stillness. In a season crowded with bright, bustling Christmas albums, Hymns: Advent stands apart with its depth, restraint, and clarity of purpose. It is less about holiday cheer and more about spiritual preparation-a posture that Advent so urgently invites.
