Star Forest Glows on Debut Album
What’s in a name? For up and coming children’s music artists, Star Forest, a lot. Star Forest is not just another alternative Spotify band, they’re a magical, mystical, musical experience for kids, adults, and whoever wants to go on the journey to Star Forest. You see, Star Forest isn’t just the name of the band, it’s a place enshrouded with teal colored trees, glowing stars (star sluggz) and a waterfall — Check out their website at Starforest.rocks if you don’t believe me. Star Forest is truly a state of mind.
Star Forest was born out of Genevieve Le Doux’s desire to create children’s music for both her son and “kids everywhere that fall between that interesting time when you’re not a “little kid” anymore and you certainly are not a grown up. You’ve over Cocomelon, and you aren’t ready for Cardi B,” Le Doux explains. “My son, Hudson, after an hour of listening to preschool tunes, and his parent’s eclectic stylings of 70s songwriters and 80s/90s pop hits, “declared There’s no music for me!” Right then, it hit me — I began writing. Star Forest was born,” Le Doux said. After some serious convincing, Le Doux’s cousin, Andy Kurtz joined in the project, and Star Forest came to life as a band. The animation part came later. For that, Le Doux enlisted “conceptual designer Dusty Higgins” who has previously worked with LeDoux in the wonderful world of animation. Le Doux is actually a 2014 Emmy winner for her production work on Amazon’s preschool series, TumbleLeaf. So you better believe she knows a thing or two about how to create awesome animated characters. And the animated band members that make up Star Forest are nothing short of eye candy who need their own line of plush toys.
Now, it takes a great deal of suspension of disbelief to appreciate Star Forest as an adult. Trust me, the idea that the band is composed of four animated animal musicians can feel a little strange at first, even if you’ve been a fan of Gorillaz. But if you’re a kid, and you stumble into Star Forest, well, your eyes will probably pop out with wonder and amazement. There’s Fawn Velvette (voiced by LeDoux) the hazel eyed, spunky, sassy, pink haired, punk rockin’ fawn on vocals and keytar. Fawn is joined by a big blue mohawked Hawk, appropriately named Hawk Frost (voiced by Andy Kurtz) on co-vocals, guitar and banjo. Rounding out the band’s lineup are Sluuuth Marbles, the sloth, who just so happens to play bass, violin, beat box and thumb piano, and finally, Rocktapus BlueBlood the seventh on drums, maracas, bongos and tambourine.
But make no mistake it’s Fawn who emerges as the band’s star on their debut album. And for good reason. Velvette knows how to captivate her audience and keep them listening. Taking a cue from a few 80’s & 90s pop stars, and even some punk rockin girl bands of the 2000s, Fawn brings spunk and confidence to Star Forest’s songs as she sings what’s deep in her heart. But she also brings the ghost of another animated pink haired pop star to her act. You might know who I’m talking about — Jem.
While Fawn might be a more punk rock Jem — there certainly are quite a few similarities between Jem and Fawn from the pink hair to even how the band is brought to life via animation. But make no mistake, Star Forest is no Jem reboot, at all.
For one, Star Forest isn’t an animated TV series — though I could seriously see it becoming one — but also, Star Forest’s debut album acts more as a soundtrack to the journey through Star Forest as opposed to songs that fit into episodic adventures.
On my musical journey through Star Forest, I felt a sense of comfort. It was refreshing and nice. But I also noticed there was a sense of familiarity in the music. It’s obvious a few pop and rock artists have definitely influenced the band. As Fawn softly sings about how “glow worms give a blue light,” and the importance of singing “to a chorus of crickets on a bubblegum cloud” a few lightening bugs started attacking me reminding me that I’ve heard this sense of wonder about nature being sung about before. About 11 years ago, to be exact. It was a little song that took the world by storm. And you may remember it, too — Owl City’s “Fireflies.” Although the song “Star Forest” is definitely not a rehash of “Fireflies” in any form, the songs seem one of the same genre — the nature pop genre. It’s this idea of singing a pop song about the wonder of nature. It hasn’t been done in a while. Or maybe at all since Owl City took the music world by storm on his debut album, Ocean Eyes. And kudos to Star Forest for bringing the genre back.
But Owl City isn’t the only band that had a clear influence on Star Forest. From 80s new wave to folk to The Beatles to Broadway musicals, it’s clear a lot of different artists (and music) has influenced Star Forest’s debut. And it’s totally awesome. Because it’s different. It’s not what you’d expect for a kids’ album. And at the end of the day, Star Forest is album for kids. Or it was supposed to be, at least.
Star Forest’s debut album is a fun mix of alternative, synth pop, rock, folk, and even hip hop. While some of the songs are clearly more kids oriented than others (the b-52s “Rock Lobster” update, “Something Under that Rock”, the techno funk ballad, “Cyberschool,” the watch-your-back because “I am the Walrus” ballad “Zuggabuggaboo” and that pirate song, “Chantey Cog”) most of the songs on the album really don’t have a target audience. Most are just songs with page turning, poetic storylike lyrics open to anyone to interpret, however, there are some stand out tracks that could play out as potential top 40 hits. “Star Forest”, “Wildewood” “Starchaser Dreamgirl,” “Play to Live,” “Wishing Song” and “Everything You Do” are the 6 songs that make the cut there.
“Star Forest” is a dreamy waltz through Star Forest that gets you to lose yourself in your imagination as you “open your eyes” and “wake to find” that you’re “a forest in the sky”. It’s a little trippy at times. But the twinkling, Japanese inspired synths really help you go to that place. And visualize it.
“Starchaser Dreamgirl” is a lo fi glowy supersonic slow dance under a shiny disco ball that gives Fawn a chance to shine as she sings, “someday I’ll be your hero, crossing the skyline, chasing the stars. One day you’ll see my colors, I am a comet, I’ll go so far”. The song’s soft, dreamy electric heavily 80s influenced new wave/synth pop — futuristic sound is something Jem would be very proud to sing. Intense synths dance alongside lyrics and a catchy chorus that has major commercial appeal. It’s this album’s “All Through the Night”. All you need is mirrored glasses and a glitter tracksuit to complete the 80s “dream” synthy dance inspired vibe of this track.
“Play to Live” is another synth pop ballad full of fun, imagination and wonder. Lyrically it’s downright interesting. But it’s cool melody has a lot of potential to be a hit.
“Wildewood” is a dancey pop ballad with hints of folk and lots of potential to be a hit and an open ended lyrics. Fawn shows us she’s got the popstar thing down on this one. And we appreciate it a lot especially after witnessing her previous performances. A music video for “Wildewood” is currently “in production”.
“Wishing Song” is undoubtedly Star Forest’s “All is Found” (from Frozen 2). Fawn finds herself bouncing between playful pop and mystical folk on this soft dreamy, acoustic getaway song that almost feels like a lullaby at times. Fawn emerges as the true angelic pixie she is on this one, and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. This powerfully sweet ballad has future single written all over it. But Fawn really struts her stuff on the almost pop punk, catchy synth pop sing-a-long “Everything You Do”. On “Everything You Do” Fawn shows us that she knows a thing or two about how to imitate pop punk stars from the late 2000s, most notably Avril Lavigne in her Best Damn Thing era. Fawn’s cheery confident delivery on the power popping chorus shows Fawn can hold her own, even if she sounds just a little bit like The Dollyrots at times.
There are lots of moments on Star Forest’s debut when it’s not hard to imagine Fawn strutting across an animated stage head banging, or taking command of the mic in the style of Hayley Williams or Jem. Fawn knows how to rock a power ballad or two, and she does it (or rather Genevieve does it) quite well throughout the album. Whether she’s shaking off the “insecurities” of the “Monster Flower” on the retro flower power ballad of the same name with a breezy flair that would make the bubbliest of pop stars proud, or dancing the night away with us, Fawn knows how to be a pop star, loud and proud. But don’t be mistaken, Star Forest’s debut is not a pop, pop punk or even a rock album. At it’s heart Star Forest’s debut is mostly alternative and synth pop with moments of folk, hip hop, and even Broadway shuffled into the mix. It’s a fun, catchy album with lots of potential to be something more. As Fawn so aptly states, “this isn’t Baby Shark, bruh” and it isn’t. Star Forest’s debut is so much more than “Baby Shark” ever was. Star Forest’s debut is an experience everyone is guaranteed to love. It’s a mixtape of all sorts of fun, wistful, carefree songs that inspire all of us, no matter how old or young or we are, to dream a little deeper, dance a little harder, and to forget reality for an hour or two.
