Singer/songwriter Carrie Ferguson is scheduled to release her latest album Friday. The record, The Grumpytime Club, is Ferguson’s second family music offering – coming approximately six years after her debut family album, Piti Theatre and Carrie Ferguson’s Greatest Bits Vol. 1 – and fourth overall album. The 11-song record is a positive new offering that any family will enjoy. That is due in part to its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany the noted musical content are also important to the album’s success. They will be discussed a little later. The sequencing of the overall content brings everything together and completes the album’s presentation. It will also be discussed later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the album’s presentation. All things considered, they make the 39-minute record that will leave listeners anything but grumpy.
The Grumpytime Club is a positive new offering from singer/songwriter Carrie Ferguson that will appeal to any family. That is proven in part through its featured musical arrangements. The arrangements are of note because of their diversity. Throughout the course of the record, Ferguson makes sure to offer audiences something different from one song to the next. Right from its opening, ‘Cat and Piggy,’ Ferguson offers audiences a touch of Americana and Folk music in one. For all the family music fans out there, the song is comparable to works from Ferguson’s fellow family music entertainment act, The Okee Dokee Brothers. The twang of the guitar against the steady tambourine beat and brushes against the snare is completely infectious.
Ferguson doesn’t stay on that Americana/Folk note for long at all. The very next song, ‘The Puppy Song (You and I),’ is a clear kindie-pop type composition. From there, Ferguson changes things up even more by going more in a ska direction in ‘Mishy Mashy Mushy Mooshy Moo.’ The diversity hardly ends there. ‘Tavi’s Song’ conjures thought of music associated with the Jewish culture and peoples. It is a gentle and so engaging composition. ‘Do It Again’ is a kindie-rock style composition with roots in vintage rockabilly. To that end, it will appeal to grown ups just as much as younger audiences. There is even a touch of Dixieland in ‘Up and Down’ complete with a bouncy tuba line at its center. This is such a fun composition that audiences of all ages will find themselves dancing along. Between all of these arrangements, the others noted here and the more subdued works that are also featured in the record, the whole makes clear the diversity in the album’s musical arrangements. That diversity ensures audiences’ engagement and entertainment in itself. Keeping that in mind, the musical arrangements featured in this record are obviously important in their own way to the whole of this record. Even with that in mind, they are only a part of what makes the album successful. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements are also important to the album’s presentation.
The lyrical themes featured throughout The Grumpytime Club are important to the album’s presentation because they are just as diverse as the album’s musical arrangements. The album’s title track for instance encourages Ferguson’s young listeners to embrace their feelings and thoughts when they are angry. Most if not all child psychologists will agree that allowing children to express their angry/grumpy feelings is crucial for their personal and social development. Ferguson does not encourage her young audiences to hold those feelings in, either. She simply tells them that feeling frustrated and grumpy is normal and OK. She does subtly tell those audiences to get those feelings and thoughts. Keeping that in mind, this theme proves important in its own way.
‘The Best Way to Be’ proves just as crucial for the personal and social development of Ferguson’s audiences. She encourages those listeners to embrace who and what they are, even stating, “The best way to be is to just be me.” In an age when there is so much pressure for young people to be one thing or another and face so many harsh words from others in person and online, such a nurturing reminder is so important. To that end, this song’s uplifting message of self confidence and assurance proves important for its content. That content is similar but still different from that of ‘The Grumpytime Club’ and the album’s other songs, showing a little more, the noted diversity in the album’s lyrical content.
‘Up And Down,’ shows that diversity even more. This song is a simple work that reminds young listeners that there is a time for play and a time for rest. She adds at points in the song, the importance of getting rest so that children will have energy to play and learn during the day. This is another key aspect of children’s development, and different from the album’s other noted themes. When audiences consider the lyrical diversity exhibited through all three of these songs and the rest of the album’s songs, that whole makes the diversity in the album’s lyrical themes just as strong and important as that in the album’s musical arrangements. The two sides collectively show even more why the album is a successful new family music offering from Ferguson. The sequencing of that collective content completes the album’s presentation and shows even more why the record will appeal to many families.
The sequencing of The Grumpytime Club is important because it ensures that the diversity in the album’s musical and lyrical content is fully pronounced from beginning to end. It takes into account all of the varied musical styles and arrangements and makes sure that at no point does the record stay on one type of arrangement and sound for too long. At the same time, the sequencing also ensures the lyrical themes featured throughout the album change constantly from one song to the next, too. It does just as much to ensure listeners’ engagement and entertainment. On yet another angle, the album’s sequencing is just as important to note because of the clear, deliberate attention to the songs’ energies. The record’s first quarter opens the record on a relatively upbeat note. From there, ‘Tavi’s Song’ and ‘The Best Way To Be’ serve as a good break point, changing things up by slowing the album down. Those two songs also serve as the album’s midpoint. From there, the next two songs – ‘Do It Again’ and ‘Up and Down’ – get the album moving again before giving way to the more subdued, reserved vibes of the last trio of songs, ‘Lend Me Your Glasses,’ ‘Aza’s Song,’ and ‘Hope Parade.’ Looking back through this aspect, the sequencing ensures the album’s energy rises and falls just enough at all of the right points. That together with the ensured engagement and entertainment that the sequencing of the content itself brings makes fully certain why the sequencing is its own important element. All things considered, the album proves a successful new offering from Ferguson that continues to validate her place in the family music community.
The Grumpytime Club is a positive new family music offering from singer/songwriter Carrie Ferguson. Its strength is shown in part through the musical arrangements featured throughout the album. The arrangements are diverse, offering plenty for audiences to enjoy from one song to the next. The lyrical content that accompanies the album’s musical arrangements adds its own layer of interest to the album. That is because it is diverse in its own right, as well as accessible. The sequencing of that musical and lyrical content brings everything together and completes the album’s presentation. It makes sure the diversity in the album’s content is fully pronounced from beginning to end while also making certain the album’s energy is just as well-balanced throughout. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the album’s presentation. All things considered, they make the album continued validation of Ferguson’s place in the family music community.
The Grumpytime Club is scheduled for release Friday through Walking Songs Music. More information on the album is available along with all of Ferguson’s latest news at:
Website: https://carriefergusonmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarrieFergusonSongwriter
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