Frances England.  Family Tree.  2008.

No offense Frances England, but your album is in need of a pan.  Everyone on earth is batting their eyelashes at you, but there’s no such thing as perfect, and I’ve never been much for hype.  So!  The first time I listened to the Family Tree I was concerned that I would soon grow weary of the nonverbal “lyrics”—the “ba da ba das”—but that concern was shortly resolved.  The album gets most of its “ba da ba das” out of the way in the first two tracks.  Well, it takes a break from them, anyway.

But then came “Animal Friends”!  Which can best be described as a conservation lecture.  If nothing else, it lacks subtlety:  “They’re all in danger of fading away/ Now it’s our turn to save the day.”  Sell it to someone else.

…well, I tried, but those are the worst things I can find to say about this album.  Family Tree is fantastic.  Overall, the album starts and ends quietly, with some rockingness in between.  This model is preferable than those kids albums that start loud and end quietly, like they’re trying to tell us it’s time for our kids to have a nap.

England’s voice is magical.  You can almost hear her eyes twinkle when she sings.  At times her voice approaches a whisper, like she’s letting you in on a secret.  I must admit, I had a hard time distinguishing between songs during my first few listens, but once you gain familiarity with the album it’s not hard to recognize the songs’ differing personalities.

Album highlights:

• “Fast Train to Grandma’s” – I like songs that sound like things.  This sounds like a train, though perhaps more the chugging aspect than the chooing.
• “Don’t Fly Away” – Not really a match, but it reminded me of Ladybug Picnic.
• “I Scream, You Scream” – Except…the bit about the cell phone, while lyrically sound, nonetheless sounds like it was chosen just because it rhymes with “cone.”  This would never preoccupy anyone but me.

Car litmus test:  I could listen to this 18 times in a row before snapping and forcing my kids to listen to NPR for three days straight.

other reviews:
Kids’ Music that Rocks | Zooglobble

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