Slumberkins, the leading brand for early emotional learning, announces the upcoming release of their new music album “Together We Shine: Vol. 1,” featuring seven songs for children and families that help promote social-emotional growth. A Great Big World, the Grammy award-winning duo of Ian Axel and Chad King, have debuted the first single from the album titled “Heart Family.”
“Together We Shine,” Executive Produced by Emmy-nominated, platinum-selling Indie-pop artist Ingrid Michaelson and set to be released Summer 2023, includes the work of talented music artists A Great Big World, Michaelson, Rachel Platten, Trevor Hall, Britnee Kellogg, AHI and MOsley WOtta.
“I was so excited and honored to be tasked with writing songs for and gathering some of my friends and colleagues to create a tapestry of songs for Together We Shine,” said Ingrid Michaelson, the album’s executive producer. “We all wanted this record to resonate with parents and caretakers just as much as with kids, and I think this amazing group of talent did just that.”
Slumberkins is the leading early emotional wellness company supporting families in raising caring, confident, and resilient children through the use of positive affirmations, stories and lovable creature characters. With 50+ books in print, more than a million books in households around the world, and a successful international preschool streaming series on Apple TV+ in partnership with The Jim Henson Company, Slumberkins continues to establish their presence in the entertainment space with the drop of their new music album.
“We have always known the importance and power of music when it comes to expressing and feeling emotions. Music has the power to speak to us on a deeper emotional level than spoken word alone,” said Kelly Oriard, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Slumberkins. “That’s why we are so thrilled to collaborate with such talented musicians who are supercharging the Slumberkins affirmations and messages through music. Now parents and kids can enjoy the beneficial messages of each creature collection together in the car, during an especially tough moment or for a spontaneous dance session in the kitchen.”
Each song on the album is inspired by a Slumberkins book and promotes an aspect of emotional wellness including self-confidence, individuality, self-worth, love, gratitude and authenticity and brings each Slumberkins character to life. “Heart Family,” written and sung by A Great Big World, shares Otter’s message of connectivity and creating your own family with people you love, which may not look the same for every child.
“Being a part of this album has been a really special experience for myself and my family. We were already familiar with the brand years ago after my wife and I saw them on Shark Tank, and we had ordered a Slumberkins product for our newborn son. Every night before bedtime, we have all sorts of meaningful conversations with him. But one topic that we keep coming back to is the idea that we are connected by love through our hearts forever, no matter how far apart we are,” said A Great Big World’s Ian Axel. “This is one of the reasons Otter’s affirmations hit home for me, and being able to sing this message to him and to our one-year-old daughter through this song has been such a powerful experience. We even had a recording session in our apartment where we invited Bowie’s friends and their families and recorded the kids on the choruses, which was lots of fun and definitely a “cool dad” moment for me. But it was also a way for us, in our small way, to bring families together and build community, which is what Otter is all about. We’re excited for families everywhere to listen to this song and we hope they can use it to reinforce the unbreakable bonds of love they have for each other!”
Oriard adds, “Otter’s song is such an important message for kids to hear early on. When we have a fixed idea about what a family ‘should’ be, we miss out on what the importance of family is about. We all need connection and love, especially in childhood. Otter’s song reminds us that family is chosen and love are the ties that bind us together. Wherever we find safety, love and connection, we can find a heart family and when we have a heart family, we always belong.”
Ian Axel and Chad King, of the Grammy Award-winning duo A Great Big World, are best known for their No. 4 Billboard hit song “Say Something” with Christina Aguilera. “Say Something” is about to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and is 6X Platinum in the United States. In addition, the band has over 1 billion spins on Pandora and 4,766,725 monthly Spotify listeners. Both Axel and King have used their music to help make the world a better place. Ian is a loving father to his two young kids and recruited them and their friends to lend their voices to this single.
Listen to “Heart Family” on your favorite streaming service including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora and Youtube. The lyric video for “Heart Family” is available to view and enjoy now on Youtube and fans can pre-order the full album to automatically save to their preferred streaming service as soon as it is available. For more information about Slumberkins and the new “Together We Shine” music album release, visit www.slumberkins.com.