Review: Explorer of the World - Frances England

Frances England didn’t plan on becoming a kids musician when she made her first album more than a decade ago. She just wanted to contribute something to her son’s preschool fundraiser, and wrote songs for a homegrown CD while supervising her son’s baths. But that album’s popularity far surpassed the small world of that San Francisco school. Last Friday she officially released her fifth album for families, Explorer of the World.

As the album title suggests, England is concerned with themes of exploration, observation, and investigation. But rather than traveling long distances, she pays close attention to the world literally outside her front door -- walking her dog around her neighborhood, for example, noticing patterns and colors. She’s inspired as much by visual artists like Wendy McNaughton and Keri Smith as by musicians, and like those artists, she encourages her listeners to pay attention to the art around them daily.

England’s music isn’t as shiny and poppy as that of her peers, but this new album is even more experimental than most kids music. Instead of using chord progressions as the jumping-off point for songs, on some tracks she used field recordings she made walking around San Francisco. “City Don’t Sleep,” for example, started with recordings from late-night walks along North Beach.

Co-producers Dean Jones and Dave Winer bring a lot of different perspectives in terms of the musical production, and the result is an album that vibrates as their approaches (Jones: earthy kitchen-sink sound; Winer: try-anything sonic collage and percussion) differ, but resonate with each other and with England.

I was trying to come up with the appropriate age range for the album, and while I'm going to put at ages 5 through 9, like much of England's more recent work, it's probably broader than that. Not for toddlers, perhaps, but also for kids older than 9, if you get them to sit down and really listen. (You can listen to this album -- along with the rest of her music -- here.)

Even though this album celebrates exploring her own backyard, Frances England is more interested in the process of keeping her eyes open to the world around her. In discovering her own neighborhood, she reminds the rest of us that we can do the same with our own streets and sidewalks. Highly recommended.

Interview: Frances England

Me and Frances England, we go way back. Like, more than a decade.

Frances was the very first artist I ever interviewed for this website (read it here -- really, go ahead and read it), and it's been fun as an observer to see her career grow in interesting ways, from learning to play live to releasing an album for adults (2013's Paths We Have Worn).

As unique as her five previous albums have sounded compared to much of the kindie sonic landscape, they're not quite like the sui generis sound of her latest release, Explorer of the World, which is released tomorrow, April 1. The record was co-produced by Dean Jones and Dave Winer (best known in the kids music world for being one of Justin Roberts' Not Ready for Naptime Players). Full of found sounds and dynamic percussion and rhythmic choices, the album celebrates exploration and travel with verve and love. (Listen to "City Don't Sleep" here, and preferably in a car, as Frances reports that Winer "insisted that several songs ("My Street, "Ballad for a Beatboxer," "Street Life," and "City Don't Sleep") be mixed like a hip hop record-- you don't get full effect if you're not surrounded by speakers.")

In this interview, Frances and I talk about the musical and visual inspirations for the album, how she, Dean and Dave worked together, and what her home -- San Francisco -- means to her.

Zooglobble: What sort of sounds are you drawn to? What sort of visuals are you drawn to?

Frances England: Music I'm drawn to... I listen to a lot of different genres: mostly indie stuff, but also some Pop, R&B, Folk, Country, Soul, Metal (just kidding, not metal). But everything else. I appreciate songs with strong melodies and hooks, and also love when there is some interesting - slightly weird - subtle stuff happening underneath... probably why I'm so drawn to bands like Sparklehorse, Magnetic Fields, Woods, Postal Service, Vampire Weekend.

When I was young, I watched a lot of Soul Train in the '80s and that show gave me a great appreciation for Soul and R&B sounds. I don't thing that's ever been reflected in my songs until this new album, Explorer of the World. But I spent a long time figuring out vocal melody arrangements for these new songs and lots of that is influenced by those sounds. And Dave Winer :)

Visuals I'm drawn to: I can honestly say that I'm inspired every single day by the artful and the ordinary things around me. I have a dog so I am out walking her everyday and am constantly noticing interesting colors, patterns, lines, contrasts. I'm also really interested in both the thoughtful and the random choices architects/gardeners/painters/homeowners make... it's everywhere and so visually stimulating to me.

There are lots of artists I'm curious about too and love seeing what they are working on: Wendy McNaughton, Nathaniel Russell, Maira Kalman, Keri Smith, Miranda July, Thomas Campbell... lots and lots! It's hard to keep up... so many interesting people making interesting things :)

Portion of Chris Raschka illustration, inspiration for "City Don't Sleep"

What visuals did you use as inspiration for each song? (I recall you telling me that you used some Chris Raschka as inspiration for "City Don't Sleep," for example.)

Regarding using visual inspiration for the songs... As you know, I'm a DIY musician - [I] never studied music so sometimes I have a hard time explaining with words and vocabulary what I'm hearing or envisioning for the songs inside my head. I do a lot of demo'ing/arranging songs at home and I always have a pretty clear idea of what I'm going after but with this album especially, I used visuals a lot to help Dean and Dave understand the vibe I was looking for.

For "City Don't Sleep," I gave them some photos of Chris Raschka's book Happy to Be Nappy and told them I wanted the song to sound like the picture. Vibrant, funky, loose, playful... basically let's make it sound like this picture (see above).

When I traveled to Dean's studio in New York I brought about 50 photographs with me into the studio... When you are doing vocals for a song, you spend a lot of time standing in front of a music stand and for each song, I would lay out a collage of photographs on the stand and before we started recording, I'd show Dave + Dean some of the images I was looking at... I think it helped... it was also nice for me to have a visual reminder of what was inspiring me when I wrote the song at home in San Francisco. [Here] are some [more] examples of some of the collages I'd build:

"See What We Can See"

"My Street"

"City of Hills"

Without asking you to specifically speak for Dean and Dave, what was their reaction to this approach? Were there cases where they specifically locked on to the sound in your head, or where what they did was way off what you were expecting?

Dean and Dave probably thought, "Oh boy, here we go with some California crazy." :)

I don't know what they thought, to be honest. The collages were more for me than for them, but I realized while we were in the studio that having visuals probably helped convey the tone and mood of certain songs, for sure. It definitely doesn't hurt!

Dave Winer and I had done months and months of pre-production demoing prior to stepping into the studio so we had a really good idea on direction before we started recording. But the in-studio chemistry and collaboration between the three of us was really fantastic - and it was basically just the three of us in the studio making this record. Even though we have very different musical influences, we have similar taste - we agree on what's good and what's not good. So that makes things so much easier from the get go.

But, of course, there were lots of surprises. "Street Life" was probably the biggest in that it steered furthest away from what I thought the song was going to be. Going in, I knew I wanted to start it minimally with the bucket drum, bass, vocals and field recording sounds. At the first chorus, Dean added beats from this amazing vintage Maestro Rhythm King drum machine and started doing these fun little electronic glitches with my vocals and some analog synths.

Then, the vocal breakdown part in the middle of the song happened so spontaneously. Dean's kids just happened to have some friends over for a playdate and we asked them to come in and lay down vocals with all of us singing the "ha ha ha " bits together. They were game so we all crowded round the microphones and spent about 5 minutes recording what truly sounded like a big hot mess of vocals. But Dean had a vision and finesses it into this cool TuneYards-inspired goodness.

The song was getting there but still missing something until Dave came up with the funky horn/melodica lines that break into the group vocals and take the song out - it's so playful, imitating car horns and brought such a joyful, funky soul to the song.

It's probably my favorite song on the album and it was one of those instances (there were many) when I felt so profoundly grateful to Dean and Dave for helping me create something so much better and more interesting than what I'd initially envisioned. That's the magic of music.

It's funny, reading this, it's almost like *you* were the producer and *Dean and Dave* were the musicians, that you had the grand vision and built the musical foundation and infrastructure, and their job was to help you build the walls and furnish the house. Not that you weren't also making the music, but this sounds a little more like a director directing a movie -- you have a definite sense of what you want, but it requires the input and work of others to accomplish the vision.

It felt like a fun team effort. Because I wrote the songs, I think it’s natural that I would be “directing” a lot of what happened, but Dave and Dean also did a lot of that, especially keeping the big-picture in mind to make it all sound like one cohesive album. I really hope I get to make another album with those two again.

What does San Francisco mean to you? You're obviously a fan of the city -- what role does the city generally ("city" defined however you'd like) play in your life?

San Francisco… boy, I do love this place so much. My husband and I moved here almost twenty years ago and thought we’d only be here for a couple of years, but we both feel in love with it and have been here ever since.

We live in the Outer Sunset, a half block away from the N train line and five blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. I love that mix of city and wide open natural space. The landscape is dramatic here - we live right on the very edge of the country and it feels unlike any other part of the United States that I’ve been to. I also love how diverse it is and the fact that my kids are exposed to so many different cultures here. And the neighborhoods are so fascinating to explore - each has its own unique character and just walking down the sidewalk is interesting because there’s so much happening around.

So the city plays a huge role in my life. At this point, it actually feels like a part of my identity, and it’s come to be a place that comforts me, challenges me, stimulates me, and inspires me every single day. I feel very lucky to live here.

Photo credits: Frances (John Funke), Chris Raschka illustration (Chris Raschka), all others (Frances England)

What Can You Find? Frances England's "All The Things I've Found" Contest

I'm a looooongtime fan of Frances England dating all the way back to her debut album Fascinating Creatures, which is now 10 years old. (Wow! Really!) Her new album Explorer of the World is set to be released on April 1, and if you've heard any of it -- try "City Don't Sleep" -- you'll understand why it's one of the most eagerly anticipated kids' albums of the year.

From my perspective, one of the most exciting things about the album isn't even the album itself, it's the Art + Observation activity book England made to accompany the album. Filled with activities that encourage discovery of the world next door by kids of all ages, it dovetails perfectly with the exploration theme of the album itself. (Fans of the books of Keri Smith and Lynda Barry's Syllabus, among others, will be particularly enamored of England's small book.)

To promote the upcoming album, England's been creating a series of short promotional videos, and I'm pleased to premiere the latest, which features a bit of "All The Things I've Found," one of the songs on the album. Unsurprisingly, the visuals accompanying the clip show some of the amazing patterns around us if we spend a little time looking for them.

Frances and I have a little assignment for you, too -- we're looking for patterns that you or your kids find in your everyday life. Post a picture of such a pattern here or on the Facebook post for this, and I'll randomly select one entry to receive a free copy of the album! I don't do contests often here, but I think that the chance to win this album is worth you taking the time out of your day to find an interesting pattern. Actually, I think it's worth you taking the time to find an interesting pattern regardless, but a chance to win the album is a sweet bonus. All entries for the contest are due by Monday at 7 PM West Coast time. Thanks and good luck!

Video: "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" - The Hipwaders

Always nice to have new music from Bay Area-adjacent trio The Hipwaders. Their latest effort is a 2-track effort -- think of it as a single with a B side, except it's not on vinyl. The A side is a surf rock effort (if the surf was from the Sea of Cortez) titled "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra," a retelling of the "boy who cried wolf" story that is, somehow, perfect for the kids' Halloween season. The B side is a cover of Pointed Man Band's "All That Krampus Wants" for those families who want to get a jump on the later holiday season. (You can grab the single on iTunes or CD Baby.)

In any case, the band's roped in Will Guy to do the animations, and every time the "camera" pans out to show Tito and the band dressed up in mariachi outfits singing in high harmony, it makes me smile.

The Hipwaders - "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" [YouTube]

Listen To This: "City Don't Sleep" - Frances England

Frances England - City Don't Sleep single cover

Yay for new music from Frances England! It's called "City Don't Sleep," and it's a sneak peek (aurally, anyway) at her forthcoming fifth family music album Explorer of the World. You'll probably notice immediately the unique percussion and sounds of the city. The latter comes from England's approach for many of the songs on the new album -- rather than starting with chord progressions, she used field recordings she'd made over the past couple years as the foundation for many of these songs, and those sounds are woven through the songs.

Between this recording and the fact that the album is co-produced by Dean Jones and Dave Winer from Justin Roberts' Not Ready for Naptime Players, Explorer of the World is definitely right near the top of my most-anticipated 2016 kindie albums. The single officially is out September 29th, but you can grab a copy now on iTunes and CD Baby (with Amazon coming shortly). Or stream it below!

Frances England - "City Don't Sleep" [Soundcloud]

Listen To This: "Little Chicken" - Rudy Trubitt

Rudy Trubitt answers the question: what if Chicken Weebus decided to open up for Supertramp during their late '70s heyday?

I mean, I'm pretty sure that nobody's ever asked that question, but "Little Chicken" answers it anyway. (And it's good to hear new music from the San Francisco-based Trubitt.)

Rudy Trubitt - "Little Chicken" [Soundcloud] [CD Baby]