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April 30, 2010
Guitar music a twist
Yoav returns with a new album in a solo show.
EVA COHEN
Tel Aviv-born, South Africa-raised musician Yoav’s popularity has been on a steady rise since the release of his first album, Charmed and Strange, in 2008. He is currently on a Canadian tour and will be headlining his own shows in Vancouver and Victoria this weekend.
Charmed and Strange had a few very well-received singles, such as “Beautiful Lie,” “Adore Adore” and “Club Thing.” Aside from vocals, every component of the music was done on Yoav’s guitar. The percussion and bass were all created using the guitar, then putting the sounds on loop throughout the recording.
His new release, A Fool Proof Escape Plan, is slightly different. Although the majority of the music is still created on his guitar, there are some sounds for which Yoav turned to other instruments. This includes writing for, and playing, the piano for the first time in his music; he also uses drums, and the cello makes an appearance in “Spidersong.”
Yoav has thought about adding a band to his tour ensemble, but, for now, he still performs solo.
“I’ve expanded what I can do and spent a couple of months creating the set-up,” he explained. “Some of the songs are very challenging just beat-wise, but I thought about getting a band together and it felt too soon. I’ll probably have the occasional show where I’ll have guests come up and play with me for certain songs but I think the nature of a lot of the songs and how I wrote them ... I’m able to do what I did before but in three dimensions, whereas what I did before was in two dimensions.”
Yoav gives an interactive performance, showing the audience how he creates the music that plays on loop while he sings.
The new release is a proud achievement for Yoav, who says it’s hard for him to even listen to Charmed and Strange anymore.
“It seems sort of like a work in progress and this album feels much more fully formed,” he said. “If I can keep going this direction and growing, I’ll be very happy. The main thing I set out to do was to enjoy the process and not get hung up on being perfect.”
He said the music from A Fool Proof Escape Plan was created during a unique time in his life, when he had just been through a difficult break-up, and he really feels satisfied with the lyrics. The first single, “Yellowbrite Smile,” is currently playing on local radio stations, and those familiar with the local music scene have been buzzing about his return to Vancouver – Yoav was here on his last Canadian tour, and he loves the city and the artistic ideas that come out of it.
While at the Burning Man Festival, in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, this past year, Yoav said he was in the last stages of the new CD and really struggling to get the final lyrics, so he went walking through the desert and came across festival-goers from Vancouver.
“There was a whole camp of people who all had my music and they invited me to stay at their camp,” said Yoav. “They showed me all of these photos from Vancouver and I’ve been looking forward to coming back and connecting with them again.”
In the upcoming show, he will play favorites from his first album and songs from his new CD, but he also has “loads” of yet-unheard songs that he doesn’t think he’s going to play on the current tour – another reason to keep an eye out for Yoav in the future.
Yoav plays the Venue in Vancouver on May 1 and the Sugar May in Victoria on May 2. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com, while CDs are available at any music seller, as well as on iTunes Canada and yoavmusic.com.
Eva Cohen is a Canadian freelance writer.
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