Haruah teshane at kivana

Do you ever see someone and then think "gosh, I hope he/she has good music"? That's how I was with Harel Skaat, an Israeli singer off an Idol-like show; he took second in its second season. From snippets I'd heard of his music, I was initially worried, as it seemed to all be ballads that just dragged...but you know what? After actually having heard the album and the songs all the way through, it's not bad! I'm enjoying it a lot--it's very pretty in a melodic, flowing sort of way. Hebrew is a very easy language to listen to, too. I am convinced that he should represent Israel at Eurovision at some point in the future. There's definitely been talk about it in the past, and the second place contestant from the first season of the show, Shiri Maimon, did go on to be in Eurovision, so maybe it'll happen.

The Wind Is Changing Its Direction--or maybe "The Spirit Will Change Her." Or, transliterated, "Haruah Teshane At Kivana" or "Haruah Teshane Et Kivuna" or something along those lines--I really don't know; "הרוח תשנה את כיוונה" in Hebrew (I think). Seeing the English title, I was initially sort of hoping this would be a cover of Fame's song "Vindarna Vänder Oss," though I knew that was unlikely, since the English translation of that isn't all that different. It isn't, but the song is still very good, though in a decidedly different manner from the Fame song. This is one of the more uptempo songs on the album, but the vocal melody is more sweeping, bigger, with more of that sense of flow I mentioned. Though I love the Fame song, I wouldn't call it lovely, but that is an adjective that I'd apply to this song. The first thirty seconds are deceptive, as they don't indicate the real beat of the song--you'll start to get a feel for that around thirty seconds in, when more instruments join in, and a little after one minute in, where what you'd probably consider the real beat enters. It's the chorus that really draws you in, though, and the further and further you go into the song, the more that chorus is played with and the better it gets. The last forty seconds remind me of my favorite parts of Grégory Lemarchal songs--I think it's that certain type of guitar riff or effect that just sounds, for lack of a better word, bright. "The Wind Is Changing Its Direction" could quite easily be made into a Eurovision-friendly song--make that beat a little stronger, speed the song up a little more--but even if Eurovision songs usually feel too put on, too classless to you, take a listen to this; it's upbeat in a wonderfully pretty, almost inspirational sort of way.

This review doesn't think the song should've been included on the album, as it "undercuts the unique aspects of Skaat's talent," but I couldn't disagree more. Just because you can sing ballads doesn't mean that's all you should sing, and really, this song isn't that far away from the rest of the album; I'd argue it's an interesting mix of that sweeping vocal melody with the upbeat backing music that gives the album a much needed burst of energy just when it needs it.

In "oh, that's helpful" fashion, I don't really know where you can buy Harel Skaat's self-titled debut album; there are several places that are selling it, but I've never used them before and can't vouch for them. I think this store is reputable, though. It's worth noting that I think he's probably best known for his ballads--"Ve'at" is the song most people know him for--but he can do mid-tempo and up-tempo songs just as well, too.

Next up: something quick, probably, but maybe something from Russia the day after that.