Priscilla Ahn Releases Children’s Album “La La La”

Los Angeles, October 2016 – Ethereal-voiced folk-pop musician Priscilla Ahn will release an album of 12 original songs for children and their grownups, La La La, on October 28.

“I’ve always wanted to create an album for children,” says Ahn, who has toured around the globe and who wrote the theme song for the Oscar-nominated 2014 animated film from Studio Ghibli, “When Marnie Was There.”

Long in the planning, the spark that brought La La La to fruition came when Ahn and her husband, actor Michael Weston, welcomed the birth of their son in November 2015. By turns whimsical, playful, and loving, the album’s dozen tracks include “Body Sounds” (“Hey, you got a nice belly bongo/ It likes to go wherever you go”), “Dust Bunny” (which provides reassurance for scary times) and the soothing “Desert Lullaby.”

A stirring interpretation of parental tenderness and childhood reverie, La La La is Ahn’s kid-style return to her grown-up hit songs “Dream” and “A Good Day.” Ahn says that the new album is “kind of hopeful sounding and innocent and simple in its instrumentation, with songs that I feel kids can relate to, emotionally and sonically.” No matter the age of her target audience, the Korean-American artist says, “Being genuine in my lyrics and in my connection to my songs—for that to come through—is really important to me.”

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Ahn shared her dad’s love for artists like Neil Young, the Beatles, and Pink Floyd. Ahn later found personal resonance in female artists Ani DiFranco, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, and Feist. Throughout her career, she has toured with Willie Nelson, Amos Lee, and Ray LaMontagne, and collaborated with Tiesto, Sia, Inara George, and Dave Sitek. Such varied influences have made for a strong personal style. Her songs have enhanced numerous TV shows and films, from “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Ghost Whisperer,” to “Bride Wars,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim,” and the upcoming 2016 Ewan McGregor film, “American Pastoral.” Her 2014 album Just Know That I Love You (Anata no Koto ga Daisuki in Japan) was written and recorded by request of Studio Ghibli producers, and it is based on the film “When Marnie Was There” and the related children’s book.

La La La features whimsical artwork by Ros Lee, and little listeners will be able to color the pictures on the CD packaging. A coloring book and other merchandise are in development, and Ahn is planning concerts in Los Angeles and San Francisco to celebrate the album release.