Ode to flatulence wins NZ on Air award

The 2024 Children's Music Awards have been announced, with the NZ On Air Best Children's Music Video going to a two-minute ode to flatulence.

'Let it Out' by Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair, featuring country music star Tami Neilson, is from the pair's hit claymation television series Kiri and Lou.

Other winners included the Recorded Music NZ Best Children's Music Artist award going to Claudia Robin Gunn, and best song awards went to Levity Beet and Judi Cranston, and to Steph Brown and Fen Ikner.

Designed for young children and lovingly made in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Kiri and Lou has involved the contribution of many beloved Aotearoa musicians and actors, including Neilson, Jemaine Clement and Marlon Williams.

Hand-crafted in stop motion with creatures made of clay, in a forest of cut-out paper, the five-minute episodes (available to watch on TVNZ+), follow the friendship of two prehistoric creatures and their adventures in the forest.

The series was written and directed by Sinclair, based on an original idea by Rebecca Kirshner and created with New Zealand producer Fiona Copland.

With three series and a BAFTA nomination under its belt, Kiri and Lou is being turned into a feature film, due for completion in October.

RNZ's Culture 101 spoke to  Sinclair and McGlashan fresh from their NZ Children's Music Awards win.

"Like a lot of songs in Kiri and Lou, it's liftable," McGlashan said. 

"Which means you can pull it out and make of it what you will."

"It's also about, if something inside is troubling you, then you've got to let it out - I mean, that's what the chorus says."