First Listen: Asaf Avidan, ‘Gold Shadow’

Bob Boilen — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 23:02:00 +0000

It’s easy to listen to Asaf Avidan and not know if you’re listening to a female singer from long ago or a guy singing 21st-century pop songs. Avidan is a bestselling 34-year-old singer from Israel who is little known in the U.S. This record, Gold Shadow, is likely to change that. On his first official release in North America, Avidan has written a batch of killer songs that make use of one of the most compelling and unusual voices I’ve ever heard. Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan are all in there, but they add up to a wholly original sound, with songs that are beautifully written and fervently performed.

I love you like the roots in the sand

I love you like God likes his plan

I love you like death loves a man

I love you like a gun in my hand

Bang bang bang I’m back again

“Bang Bang” conveys a perfect mix of passion and poetry, as Avidan does a remarkable job writing for his own voice. Gold Shadow spends much of its time cycling through modern rock and blues sounds, but near the end of the record, “The Labyrinth Song” finds them fading like a sunset. There, with just his gorgeous voice and an acoustic guitar, Avidan stares down his demons without affect or artifice. In the process, he makes a true connection between head and heart that leaps directly from speakers to soul.

Asaf Avidan: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 10:14:00 +0000

So I’m driving down the road when I hear this incredible voice coming out of my car speakers — part Janis Joplin, part Nina Simone — and I wonder, “Who is she?”

That day, I’d ripped a number of CDs onto my phone and didn’t remember which record this was. Upon a quick glance at my phone during a traffic light, I discover the name Asaf Avidan. Next traffic light, I look it up and I see a picture of a skinny, handsome white male. I figure that’s a mistake — that I must have typed the wrong name — so I wait to get home.

What I discovered floored me. Asaf Avidan is a 33-year-old, very well-known Israeli singer, formerly with a folkish rock band with gold records called Asaf Avidan & The Mojos. He’s now on his own with a solo record and no U.S. record label to put it out, but he’s on a solo tour that’s stunning. He stopped us all cold when he began to sing at the Tiny Desk. There’s a disconnect, when you watch this, between what you see and what you hear. And those songs that he writes? Well, he truly understands his voice, and they’re just some of the best tunes I’ve heard in a long time.

Set List

“My Latest Sin”
“Different Pulses”
“Reckoning Song”

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Editor: Olivia Merrion; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Olivia Merrion; photo by Jim Tuttle/NPR

Asaf Avidan – Bandwidth

First Listen: Asaf Avidan, ‘Gold Shadow’

Asaf Avidan: Tiny Desk Concert