Jessie Baylin's Harry Nilsson-Inspired Kids Album & Short Film Out Today
By: Tori Hartshorn Apr. 27, 2018
Upon first listen, Jessie Baylin's new adult friendly children's record Strawberry Wind sounds like a wonderful new Baylin record and her trademark emotive retro-pop vocals shine through. After closer listens, one finds that there's more of a playful, carefree and delightfully childlike sensibility on the tracks that overflow with a sense of joy, wonder, and excitement for life that speaks well to children.
Before Baylin recorded the album with her longtime producer/collaborator Richard Swift (The Shins, Nathaniel Ratliff & the Nightweats, Oxygen) she envisioned from the outset that this album would have a strong, vibrant, visual sensibility from the cover to the accompanying videos. She first tapped Ben Folds drummer and graphic designer Sam Smith to create the album art. The next idea was to make a short film using songs from Strawberry Wind to tell a story, so when Baylin first saw director/animator Steven Mertens' work (Dan Auerbach, Regina Spektor, and former Moldy Peaches bassist) she knew without question that he was the one to bring the songs to life. "His images jumped from the screen and immediately struck me," explains Baylin "i fell in love with the idea of his fantasy world and a vivid journey with an interesting cast of characters... the kind that can only be found in dreams; it's gritty, yet whimsical, which I thought could engage people of all ages as it did me."
Creating original stop motion animation, live action and graphic design, the award winning director Mertens with Baylin selected 5 songs from her album. From there, Mertens conceived and created original characters to begin developing the story that was 5 months in the making. When first pitched on the idea Mertens said "I loved that the videos would be centered in the little girl's dream world. My strength is surreal and psychedelic art, so to be able to let that part of myself be expressed was a big plus for me. The fact that the songs were great, so catchy and memorable, didn't hurt a bit either." Running nearly 16 minutes long, Strawberry Wind (a short film) tells the story of a little girl who goes to sleep only to go on a grand adventure in a vivid, cosmic dream world. In the film - the dream catcher is an animated cat who guides the little girl through a wonderland of flying fishes, gremlins and other magical creatures, protecting her along the way. As director Mertens explains.
"When I heard Jessie's songs I thought "Wow, such a classic sound!" It made me want to create characters that looked like they were from the 60s or 70s, the way the music sounded. There was a Beatles-y quality to the music and for me that also connects to Monty Python. From there I thought the "Dream Catcher" character could be this vintage postman or dog catcher character - turns out it became a cat. For the other characters I drew on things that I thought were magical when I was a child, Lord Of The Rings, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Calvin and Hobbes, Where The Wild Things Are to name a few. And the little girl was based on a sewing pattern for little girls pajamas from the 50s, and of course, Jessie's daughter Violet."
"Since becoming a mother...I started gravitating to these wonderful older albums from my own childhood that I could share with my child -- The Beatles, John Lennon, Roger Miller & Harry Nilsson's The Point!" explains Baylin, "and I realized that people aren't making albums like that anymore, and that really inspired me to go down this musical path." The magic of those iconic '70s records she mentions is that they're all grounded in solid songwriting and were never dumbed down for the audience. "Those records feel very honest and that was my mission here. I also wanted it to feel magical and remind people of the child inside all of us that is filled with a sense of wonder and pure joy and hope," says Baylin.
Though the album overall is warm and enchanted, Baylin doesn't shy away from telling it like it is. Weaving through the lyrical themes of dream life, super moons and summertime vibes are some gentle doses of reality. On "I Am a Dreamer," for instance, the singer reveals that life isn't always one big magical mystery tour."I don't want to lie to my kids. Life is hard sometimes and you need to find a way to deal with it... how there will always be things in life you can't control, but, you can dream of a better world and make your own refuge," says Baylin.
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