Musician, DJ and broadcaster (RTÉ 2FM) Graham Smyth has announced his debut album ‘Music For Babies To Rave And Sleep To’, which is being released via Practise Music on 5 September 2025.

The album which is designed to be enjoyed by young children and adults alike features two distinct sonic palates with Toy Piano (Side A) and Toy Kalimba (Side B). Alongside the announcement of this unique debut album, Smyth is sharing the “rave” track from Side A ‘Toy Pianonono (For Raving)’.

“after the birth of my nephew; I was so excited to introduce him to the world of music–particularly electronica. That’s when the spark of inspiration hit and I thought ‘why not take the sounds of toy instruments, the tried and tested techniques of lullabies and combine them with lush soundscapes that both baby and parent could enjoy?’” explains Smyth.

“I think ‘Toy Pianonono (For Raving)’ is the best taster of this album because it flips a typical lullaby-inspired song into a pit-stop rave! It has the lullaby tropes of high pitches, repeated phrases and a rocking rhythm in the bass but this is all underpinned by a breakbeat filled with percussive sounds that babies make with their hands.

The pounding on tables, rubbing and tapping are all in there. During research for the album I found out that babies’ heart rates beat 50% faster than ours so music to entertain them should reflect that (The Laughing Baby, Dr. Caspar Addyman), hence the fast-paced drum & bass influence on this one. Hopefully you like what you hear and can share a micro-rave with the little ones in your life!”

Graham Smyth assembled the album with the help of ambient producer and composer Gareth Quinn Redmond (Villagers, James Vincent McMorrow, Ye Vagabonds), 

“The likes of They Might Be Giants and Imogen Heap have done amazing work creating music that adults and children can both equally enjoy. With this project I am trying to achieve something similar but for those parents who like electronica and ambient artists such as Aphex Twin or Burial but may feel that type of music is too mature for little ears. Side A is definitely geared more towards young children and Side B skews towards older ears.”