This follow-up to 2009’s
Lullaby, a collection described by the artist as intended “not just for children, but also adults,” sets its focus clearly on the former. Released just months after
Jewel gave birth to her first child,
Merry Goes 'Round saunters and swings with the easy confidence of new motherhood, going from back porch singalongs (“She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain” and “Oh! Susanna”) to jazzy, Sunday morning slow jams (“My Favorite Things,” “Give Me the Rainbow”) without a care in the world, offering up a set of 16, mostly original, country-folk kids’ songs that are sweet and silly enough to hold the attention of a roomful of little ones, and breezy and folksy enough to keep their parents from launching a sippy cup into the speakers. ~ James Christopher Monger