SING TO ME
Sing To Me is out today, hope you'll give it a spin! It's an album for creating calm and leaning into a more gentle way of being. It's for appreciating the relationships we have with the people we love & the natural world around us. 🌿 It's for children + it's for everyone. 🦋 Written on walks in Golden Gate Park, the album cover is filled with some of my favorite gems from the park. Streaming in all the usual places 🌸 Thank you so much for listening!
Listening Link: https://francesengland.hearnow.com/sing-to-me
My new album Sing To Me is coming out in a few weeks and I thought I’d share a bit about a couple of the songs before the release. This one is called “Wide-Eyed As You Came” and it’s a love song / lullaby to older kids, teens, and young adults who’ve struggled and needed to fly under their parents wings for a little longer than they’d planned. Everyone’s journey is unique and “Wide-Eyed As You Came” is acknowledgment that we’re all growing and right where we need to be, even if it doesn’t feel like it all the time. It also reminds us what a privilege it is to be there for the people we love (even if it doesn’t feel like it all the time :-)
Can’t wait to share the whole thing with you! xoxoxo
I’ll be releasing a new album soon and wanted to share a few moments from it with you. This song is called Spinning Records and what you’ll hear on the recording is actually the demo version, not the studio one. I recorded this demo late one evening and just intended to use it as a reference. But I when I finished it, I burst into tears because it brought me back to being in the living room with my boys when they were really little - a precious + fleeting time.
Fast forward to recording the studio version, it was the end of the day, I was tired and that totally came through in the recording. The studio version just didn’t have the heart that the demo did so I decided to scratch it and go with the demo, despite all of it’s imperfections (squeaky stools, missed guitar notes, etc).
I tried to have this mindset for the whole album. I recorded everything live singing and playing guitar at the same time so there was no going back to fix any lead vocal mistakes because they were attached to the guitar track. So there are notes that I go for but don’t quite hit, there are squeaky chairs, and because we decided not to use a click, there’s some ebb and flow with timing. The whole album is honest and heartfelt and I hope the listener feels that. All my children & family albums are meant for listeners of all ages, but I’m not going to lie, this song Spinning Records is especially for the Mamas. oxox f
My husband John is usually the first person to hear new songs I'm working on and his go-to reaction is to find the holes. This often drives me crazy but is almost always helpful. When I first sung "Friend In Me" to him he didn't say a word & when I looked over at him he was crying. A few weeks later I did a zoom concert for the artists at Creativity Explored and a few of them reached out to let me know they had similar reactions to this song.
"Friend In Me" is the last song on my new album Sway & I've done an absolutely terrible job of promoting it. I released it over a month ago but because we've had so many big life changes happening around here, I haven't had the time or space to help get these songs out into the world.
But this weekend I made this little video for "Friend In Me" in hopes that it will help people find this song. If you have time to give it a listen and it resonates with you, hope you'll share it with the people you love, the ones that are forever there for you.
SWAY is out today! This little collection of songs means so much to me and I hope it will mean something to you and your family too. It’s been a rough time, that’s for sure! When things feel unsteady, we can sway. We can lean on one another, grow alongside each other & feel gratitude, even as we struggle. Maybe that sounds heavy for a children/family album but the kids totally get it. They have experienced it and felt it in their bones just like the rest of us. / / / Massive appreciation to my amazing musical friends who helped me make Sway: Omar Akrouche, Jason Slota, Ramon Fermin, Dean Jones, Josh Lovelace & Chris Cron. And huge thank you to the ever-inspiring Lindsay Stripling for the beautiful cover art! Thank you all so much for listening! 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
Hey Friends! I’m happy to announce I’ve just release a new EP of acoustic, wind-down songs for children & families called “Honey.” It’s a mix of old and new songs recorded in the style of an old Iron & Wine album.
I wrote the title track when I was feeling especially raw and emotional around COVID but think it applies even more so after this past election weekend: “You look like you could use some rest, a little tired, a little stressed. Take a load off and sit back with me, honey, honey, honey.” While the rolling snare drum in the chorus represents how anxious/fragile it can all feel, the lyrics and overall take-away is that we get through hard things together.
Hope these recordings bring a little peace & comfort to your whole family. You can listen to Honey here, buy on ITunes/Amazon/Apple or stream in all the usual places. Thank you!!!
Sending big love, xo Frances xo
Today I’m releasing a new single! This is “Glue,” an appreciation for the people we’ve been stuck with during this crazy time. Streaming now in all the usual places - click here to find your preferred streaming service: https://8PGR.lnk.to/FrancesWE. Be safe and well and please vote! #coronacoasterfamilyanthem
Hey Friends! Hope you’re all hanging in there during this crazy coronacoaster time! Here’s a new song that will hopefully make you want to sing along and stay home.
Stay safe everybody!
sending big love,
xoxox Frances xoxoox
Thanks so much for this, Parents’ Choice Awards!
Here it is, Blue Skies & Sunny Days, a collection of loose & breezy songs that will hopefully make you and your kiddos feel good, even on your cloudy days. And I'm so thrilled that one of my artist heroes, Lisa Congdon, did the album artwork for it. Available Now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, & all streaming sites!
We are so excited and honored to be playing two shows at Lincoln Center! If you are in the NYC area please come sing with us! xoxoxo f
Hey Friends, I wrote this song after a day of feeling so upset by what's happening in our country. I was also thinking about how children across the country are processing the news right now because I know so many of them are seeing and hearing it. With my own kids, I've struggled to find words to explain how such hatred, racism, bigotry and violence can live and grow inside another human being (who was also once an innocent child). "Beacons of Light" is a response and if you have a child, I hope maybe you'll play it for them. 100% of downloads for this song will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Huge thanks to Dean Jones for collaborating with me on this one. Sending love and light to you all!
EXPLORER OF THE WORLD WAS NOMINATED FOR A 2017 GRAMMY AWARD!
Explorer of the World won a Gold Award from Parents' Choice!
“Frances England’s unique heart-infused lyrics and truly inventive music add up to one gorgeous keeper of an album, as well as an irresistible invitation to unplug and explore a world of adventure as close as a kid’s backyard” ”
Here's a fun lyric video to follow along with for "City Don't Sleep." Check out a bunch more on the video page!
Sirius XM Show Airs April 1, 2, and 3rd! Hope you can tune in - times listed above.
Frances' new album - EXPLORER OF THE WORLD - is coming out April 1 but you can pre-order it now right here!
Produced by Dean Jones + Dave Winer, Explorer of the World is a shimmering sonic journey through the everyday and a reminder of all the unexpected adventures that can happen when you keep your head up and let your own curiosity lead the way.
““It really feels as though Frances England has captured the world in one musical place. It is laid back with a sense of urgency. It is funk horns chilled out to an indie groove. It is both the beginning and end of an adventure. It is the noise of a foreign city, and it is the grass of your backyard. And it all works together.””
New Spring Shows Announced in PacificNorthwest! Please send your Seattle + Portland friends our way.
Instagram Updates
Sing To Me is out today, hope you'll give it a spin! It's an album for creating calm and leaning into a more gentle way of being. It's for appreciating the relationships we have with the people we love & the natural world around us. It's for children + it's for everyone.
Huge thank you to my dear friends who helped me make this one: @ramonybalony (guitar), #DeanJones (keys & percussion) and @omarakrouche (mixing & mastering). Also thanks to #MaryAnnZahorsky and @danjelly @womensaudiomission for engineering.
Written on walks in Golden Gate Park, the album cover is filled with some of my favorite gems from the park Streaming in all the usual places