Say hello to Israel’s Shany Kedar… or say hello again.
A fundamental misconception about new music is that new music is always new. Not so. Occasionally there are beautiful islands of loneliness creating something from nothing – like a Daniel Johnston (QRO live review), or Gesualdo – but this is only one half of the puzzle.
What gives music its primitive allure is the willingness of contemporary actors to throw on masks and bring to life archetypes of the human passions that are as ancient as memory itself. And no archetype exerts more power over modern music than the femme fatale, a figure born out of the headless fertility goddesses of Mesopotamia, born through Helen of Troy, Joan of Arc whispering in her cell, Hester Prynne’s phonics, Greta Garbo clamoring for a smoke in a crowded room, Nico, and finally, Shany Kedar.
With her debut Bloodlines, Shany Kedar effortlessly proves her lineage in seven spare songs of human suffering and nubile insistence. The elemental trio of Shany on guitar, Guy Bibi (drums), and Jonathan Ydov (bass) conjures up the muted monumentalism of Low (QRO album review) on the tracks "Naked" and "Pass time". Elsewhere, the hazy cloud of psychedelic feedback and slow distortion that hang over the proceedings bring to mind Mazzy Star. The knock down single of the album, "This house", smacks strongly of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval (QRO album review) and her smoky granola breathiness – Shany hits that same note of drop dead beauty.
But Shany Kedar is no hippie-come-lately. When an Israeli songstress whispers breathily into the mic, "I see my sons coming back from the war / Sit all still and silent and I know I’m the one who sent them there", you know we’re not talking dope and blacklights. Her subject matter elevates the album to a whole different level, and the unrelenting, fragile beauty of her delivery makes certain that we feel every terrible, heart-wrenching contour of the story she has to tell.
However strong her lineage, the story Shany Kedar has to tell is her own. Her voice, her poetry, and her charm are all her own. The Tel Aviv-based musician has crafted a powerful opening act with Bloodlines, which demands an encore. We can only hope more is to follow, so that this promising bud blossoms and does not blister in the desert sun.
