Katie Ha Ha Ha plays guitar in video still
As we approach the end of 2016, it's tempting to look ahead to 2017 and try to discover what new music awaits us, but, hey, there's still new music left in this year! Don't write it off yet.
These Things Go Together album cover
One new album that gets its release this weekend with a 2016 date stamp is These Things Go Together, the debut kids album from Katie Mullins. Mullins is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter who's got a couple albums for adults under her belt, but even though she's been making music with kids as "Miss Katie" for more than 8 years, These Things is her first full-length under the project name Katie Ha Ha Ha.
The album is simple in lot of places -- Mullins' vocals, a guitar on many tracks-- but seeing as she worked with kindie uber-producer Dean Jones, there are a few flourishes [waves hello to the toy piano and kalimba] that elevate the collection of pre-K originals and classics above your standard vocals-and-guitar recording. It's not necessarily reminiscent of Raffi, but it's definitely Raffi-adjacent.
While the title track is one of those vocals-and-guitar tracks and a bit of percussion thrown in, it's energetic -- a bit punk, even -- and features lyrics that will most certainly amuse your novelty-primed preschooler. And it's got a video that features dancing, rocks, and an ill-fated cake. The video below is worth a spin, as is the album when it gets a full release.
Katie Ha Ha Ha - "These Things Go Together" [Vimeo]
