Cosmo and the Cosmonaut: Ultra Mega (Monkey)

It's not often Elsewhere gets a letter in crayon (see below) from an artist to accompany their CD and promo sheet.

Then again, the author was an eight year old (Cosmo) and his expat Kiwi dad (NIgel Braddock aka the Cosmonaut) wrote the press release and laid down the elemental electrobeats for the 10 songs behind the little guy's raps about climate change (The World is Burning), favourite foods on Ultra Mega Yum Yum (yoghurt, peanut butter, vegan pasta, falafel . . .), feeling stoopid and clowning round (We Are the Dumbheads, “we eat dessert first . . . like to play piano with our feet . . .”), not wanting to go to school, maths being cool (a simple adding up song) . . .

The Shut Up Song was prompted by Cosmo telling his dad to shut up – as kids do when testing the boundaries – and so Cosmonaut suggest as song about hm saying exactly that.

I Like Water involves gargling and is a 35 second paean to H2O which has a very funny pay-off line.

Everything here is Ramones-length (10 songs in 26 minutes) and it's an album that was made because the home studio in their lounge in Berlin meant they could.

“Be kind to all” in the final track is a pretty simple message but one worth remembering.

This is going straight to a very junior member of my family and I have no doubt he'll love it and laugh along to We Are The Dumbhead and I Like Water.

I did.

Check it out on Spotify here