Album Review: Little Wild Singable Songs – Play, Help, Wonder

Claudia Robin Gunn is a widely celebrated children’s musician, and for very good reason. With a plethora of releases and a tidy stack of awards under her belt, Claudia Gunn has proven yet again, why she is so loved by tamariki and adults alike, with her latest album offering Little Wild Singable Songs – Play Help, Wonder.

Little Wild Singable Songs is a culmination of her three gorgeous EP’s; Playful, Wonderful and Helpful, released in April, May and July this year. The amalgamation of these short collections, with an added opening and closing track, has resulted in a delightful album of music for all ages and occasions.

Let’s be real. Children’s music can be hell. Annoying repetitive hooks, squeaky voices and tired song structures, will very easily, drive an adult listener insane. But children’s music does not need to be a dumbed down psychotic earworm to be a success, and thank the gods of good tunes that artists like Claudia Robin Gunn agree.

The opening track of Little Wild Singable Songs is Wonderful Day and it’s immediately uplifting. Personifying the experience of daily routines, it is simplistic and beautifully produced. With little fluff and lots of authenticity the opening track provides a sense of relief and I relax to the sweet voice and happy strum that demands very little of me as a listener. 

Hello Hello Sunshine paints a picture in dulcet harmony and continues the gentle teaching of awareness, prevalent throughout the album.

By the third track I find I’ve tuned out slightly, but not for a lack of enjoyment, simply, it’s such easy listening, I am able to be present in task as well as in the music, which makes me reflect on how important this offering is for parents and educators working full time with children who thrive on consistent stimulation.

The River Song reels me straight back in, however. Released as a single in August, The River Song is a beautiful folk-ballad which like Puppet Show Life and If I Were A Farmer, takes you on a journey, building a world with words and inspiring presence and appreciation.

While the album’s genre is best described as Children’s Folk-pop, there is a diverse influence throughout. Rainbows In My Food, serves a slice of Country, Shopping Song boasts a Reggae bass and Library Card gives wandering minstrel energy with a fun call and response I foresee as a favourite of the nieces. As far as traditional kids songs go, Peekaboo Birdies is the only track that feels like a classic. It’s a cumulative song and placed perfectly in an album of folky ukulele fun. 

The opportunity to provide incidental learning experiences through music is a gift Claudia embraces. Her songs are for the everyday relatable experiences of life and learning, through mindful awareness with songs about shopping or bathing or speaking with kindness.

Magic Words invites children to think of their language as a tool to create a better place and the sentiment in the line “Little words with big hearts – to make the world a little kinder” I find very moving. Claudia’s themes of compassion, connection to our world and observing the small wonders are lessons needed for all listeners, not just our tamariki.

There is certainly a lot of positivity lyrically and a celebration of imagination, creative expression and belonging, though never does it feel cheesy or forced. 

We live in a world brimming with cynicism and judgement and in my personal experience, tend to avoid, particularly in art, anything that verges on the ‘cringe’. Cringe I think is somewhat important though and listening to this album of sickly-sweet stories of love and connection, adventure and appreciation, I allow myself to sink into the cringe factor, the tick-tacky innocence of enjoying, even in an adult world, the rainbow colours of my food and the joy of singing in the bath.