Album Spotlight – “Levity Beet and the Aotearoa All Stars”
As New Zealand Music Month wraps up, I’d like to turn our attention to the southern hemisphere and the latest outing from Levity Beet. Levity Beet and the Aotearoa All Stars, the first album from Levity’s new label “Wildbeet Records,” is chock full of New Zealand notables and features collaborations with 12 different writers/performers/producers from New Zealand’s rich family music industry. Special guests include familiar names like Itty Bitty Beats, Music with Michal, and Claudia Robin Gunn as well as names that might be new to American audiences such as Suzy Cato, Craig Smith, fleaBITE, Kath Bee, Judy Cranston, Chris Sanders, Mr. Roberelli, MLO, and Loopy Tunes.
When Levity Beet and the collaborators met to write the 12 tracks on this album, they used the broad concept of things that they remembered really loving as children. With that idea as their guide they created a collection of songs that emphasize play, imagination, silliness, and unbridled joy. Many of the tunes feature interactive elements such the made for storytime track “Funny Little Bunny,” “Jump,” the perfect summer song, and “One Baby Burger Cook” a jump roping chant. Additional songs like “Let’s Build This Home” encourages playing pretend and “Silly Sausage” is, well, just plain silly. Levity Beet and the Aotearoa All Stars hits all the right notes and will have listeners seeking out more music from everyone featured. Adorable animated lyric videos are available on Levity Beet’s YouTube channel.
