New Music /

Yoav

We’ve really been getting into the music of singer-songwriter, Yoav, of late. It’s a rich amalgam of acoustica and electronica, subtle yet original. We interviewed him recently: There’s an understated beauty about your music. It’s organic and delightfully personal. Or so it seems. Are you lyrics confessional or observational, or both? ‘Every song is a different journey, but all my songs have a personal meaning to me and come from being somewhat of an outsider looking in. When I started writing I tended to write unrequited love ballads and songs of teen angst that were painfully personal. But now, while some of those themes recur, my later stuff comes from a sense of dissatisfaction with the world and society around me. Dreams are also a great source of inspiration for me’. How do you write — during allocated times or off the cuff when inspiration hits? ‘I am not a very disciplined writer. While I am always jotting down lyrical ideas, mini-poems and rhymes, as well as noodling on my guitar constantly, I want to feel that a new idea I am about to work on is special. I usually have four or five pieces I am constantly refinining at the same time over a period of a few months’. There’s a sense of purity about using acoustic instruments. Nothing to hide behind! Ever long for a stack of Marshall’s and a ball breaking backing band? ‘I had a band experience a few years back before going solo again. The politics of it often get in the way of enjoying the feeling of playing music with other people. When I started playing on my own and getting into creating textures and beats live like a DJ meeting a singer-songwriter, it was very exciting to play again and I felt my words connecting with my audiences on a much deeper level. Since every sound on this record was made by either my voice and guitar, I felt that I should definitely represent the record live by myself. That said, if I found an amazing bunch of musicians to play with and the chemistry was right I would be keen to see where that led — probably on future tours and also not likely to be guitar, bass, and drums. I really love how an artist like Bjork will have a backing band of a harpist, electronic percussionists and an orchestra, for instance, instead of a regular band’. If we handed you an acoustic guitar now and asked you to play a cover song for us, what would it be? ‘Well, I have a cover of Where is My Mind by the Pixies that closes my record which I love playing. But recently I have been working on a Radiohead track from Kid A and jamming a banging percussive acoustic version of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ I Put a Spell On You’.

Listen to the Yoav track, Beautiful Lie.

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