"Under the Stars" by Sunflow

I’d like to thank Nancy Falkow for alerting me about her new album of bedtime songs Under the Stars. She actually contacted me several weeks ago and I’ve taken so long to write about it because Loretta and I have taken our time soaking in the luscious songs. I should start, then, by clarifying that these aren’t precisely lullabies at all. That’s the first thing Loretta said when I played her a track because she is accustomed to more laconic accompaniments in her bedtime music; when we do listen to music at night, which is becoming increasingly rare as Loretta desires more and more stories instead, we generally use Golden Books’ Lullabies album from 2004, which is great not only for the quality of the music but because of the fact that all the tracks repeat sans lyrics for the album’s second half, a tactic which I think really helps lull Loretta into sleep as it gradually helps calm down her super-active little mind. (I’ve also written before about how I’ve tried to channel Julie Andrews in our nighttime routine.)

But Under the Stars is something completely different from all of these. The artists most often cited as precedents for it are Carol King and Harry Nilsson. I’m not completely conversant with these performers—though I try to be eclectic jazz is still my specialty (I tried to listen to the Dixie Chicks with Loretta on Saturday but she insisted on Duke Ellington; last week the same thing happened with Alison Krauss)—but from my own experience I would describe the music as belonging to a beautiful place somewhere in between James Taylor, Nora Jones, and, since I’m mentioning her, Krauss. It’s folksy and contemporary, with tinges of blues: you can hear Joan Baez, especially in the guitar work, or even Bob Dylan or Simon and Garfunkel in it. Falkow has sung backup for Astrud Gilberto, and perhaps the best thing I can say about Under the Stars is that it is what I imagine Gilberto would sound like if she ever cut an English folk album. Take the timbre of Gilberto’s voice and combine it with the acoustic guitar work of a George Harrison or Eric Clapton, and you have Under the Stars.

Well, half of it. Under the Stars is the first recorded collaboration between Falkow, a Philadelphia native now resident in Dublin, and the Dublin native Fran King; the combined duo’s name is Sunflow. They met by chance a few years ago in a Dublin train station and eventually started working together. Here is an example of the result, “Now Sleep,” sung by Falkow:



Another of Falkow’s pieces, “I Wish You Love,” has a lightness of touch that perhaps moves it out of the lullaby realm, but it complements the other pieces wonderfully and is one of my favorites on the album. I’m not certain, but I believe the majority of the harmony is sung in open fifths, giving it a bit of a bluegrass feel without any of the traditional instrumentation. It’s a nice blend in that sense.



I’d also like to include one of King’s pieces. Most of the other reviews I’ve looked at compare his work with Paul McCartney and the Wings, a comparison that seems very apt, particularly the opening track “(When You’re In) Slumberland.” Here’s a more upbeat number, “Dreamboat”:



It’s the kind of number that you can both dance to with your child and send her off to sleep with.

Some of the best reviews I found of Sunflow were posted on Out With the Kids and It’s About Music. Of course, there’s a great deal of info on the group’s MySpace page and on Nancy Falkow’s homepage. To read another press release or to order or download the entire album go to CD Baby. You can sample all ten tracks there as well, something definitely worth doing.

I hope Falkow and King are planning on more work. The world of children’s music is creatively booming and I believe its business has proven more resilient to the recession and implosion of the recording industry than adult music has, though it would be a stretch to say that it's doing brilliantly. I therefore hope there’s enough commercial incentive to keep these two interested in other albums of daytime music, covers, or other genres (to stay abreast one can sign up for a newsletter on Falkow’s site). I don't know about Irish or British television, but here in the States, Yo Gabba Gabba and particularly Jack’s Big Music Show are crazy if they don’t snatch these guys up, although the perfect fit would of course be Sprout’s Good Night Show, perhaps hooking up for the next round of Pajanimals, as I'm under the impression Sprout really wants to increased original and themed content for the nighttime block. The potential sphere for bedtime music is essentially limitless, and Sunflow has given us another reason to keep exploring that world far into adulthood.