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Sanrio's cute and cuddly anime Hello Kitty has raked in millions
in sales around the world from merchandise embossed with the kitten's
logo. Now Sanrio is breaking Hello Kitty into the music market
with the first ever full-length Hello Kitty-themed album entitled
Hello World from Lakeshore Records. The album offers 11-tracks
of original pop tunes performed by a number of up and coming artists
including Mandy Ventrice, Cori Yarckin, Cheryl Yie,
and Emma Hunton. The result is a sparkly wonderland of fancy-free
romps surrounded in sugar-coated bliss. From the perky party tracks
of "Get This Party Started" and "Do You Really Wanna"
to the sing-along ditties of "Hello Kitty" and "Getaway,"
Hello World is an album geared to snatch the Radio Disney gene
pool. Sure most tracks sound girly with confectioner-frills, sonic
bubbles and hip-swaying grooves, but it is definitely an album that
the boys will be listening to when no one is watching them, if for
no other reason than to check out the girls who sing on it.
It's impossible to dislike any track even if sugary pop isn't your
brand of music. If you do have a hard time with it, just remember
back when flying through the air on the swingset at the playground
and whizzing down a waterslide at the amusement park felt like the
greatest rush to you. That's what this album feels like. It does not
hurt the record that it features all new voices who will hopefully
have a chance to shake up the pop scene, like the spearing resonance
in Jennifer Marks' vocals through the song "To All The
Girls" and the confident strut in Cheryl Yie's curls along "Get
This Party Started." The rustic, sandy timbres of The Seventeens
in "Take It Easy (Chocolat's Jam)" have a country swagger
that may remind many folks of the soft rolling trundles of Gram
Parsons. Conversely, the funky drum loops of "Do You Really
Wanna" are lassoed by the sleek dance grooves in Cori Yarckin's
voicing. The songs mix in some Strawberry Shortcake sonic glitter
with Gwen Stefani's angelic mists and the leisurely hold of
Gavin Rossdale's vocals.
Hello World is a sonic Taj Mahal with esthetics that please
and infatuate. It's a rush of fun-loving pop tunes that tickle the
senses and keep you feeling elevated. It's the type of music that
you would expect in a Hello Kitty animation. The primary songwriters
on the disc include Nini Camps, Gary Phillips, Gen
Rubin, and Toby Gad along with a handful of producers like
Andrew Lane, Steve Skinner, Malcolm Flythe, Guy
Thomas, and Erik Eldenius. With so many people providing
input, the songs are diversified enough to keep the album moving forward,
making each track tailored to the artist performing it. It's an album
that you'll pick up just to enjoy the Sun's rays bathing you in warmth,
or the rain pelting you will crystal clear droplets of water. It's
an album that lets you enjoy the simple pleasures that are always
within your reach.
-Susan Frances
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