Charmed & Strange it certainly is, and it's difficult to describe. Perhaps the most accurate offering is an acoustic based sound that brings strong parallels with dance music, trance in particular. Yet what makes it all the more remarkable is the fact it's achieved through just one person.

Yoav's background takes in Israel and South Africa alongside London and the US, and it shows up well in his music. Just occasionally it's possible to draw a surprising parallel with none other than Justin Timberlake in the more soulful side of his vocal delivery, but crucially Yoav stops short of any posturing or come-to-bed vocals. Instead songs such as One By One bring forward a humid paranoia that Faithless might have induced in their Insomnia days. "What if we're never coming down?" it asks, and the musical response is a startling strum on the guitar, all rhythmic momentum lost.

There Is Nobody casts a similar mood, kicking off with a stomping bass drum such as that introducing Seven Nation Army, but this time Yoav's vocal soars to more positive heights. At its centre the acoustic guitar introduces the kind of riff that, if amplified and tweaked, might form the centerpiece of a Ferry Corsten or Tiesto set - only here, removed from context, it provides a strong counterpoint and nothing more.

Club Thing is brilliantly realised in a similar manner, its subtle background riff essentially an intimate version of a roof raising trance anthem, kept so by its delivery and the keen intimacy of Yoav's vocal. Beautiful Lie, meanwhile, builds powerfully, its momentum carrying all before.

Throughout these elements bring a strangely effective tension, with the added plus that the lyrics also pack a punch. "In the middle of the night my senses scream that something's not right", he sings on the troubled Wake Up, while the softly spoken Angel And The Animal talks of hibernation in a strangely moving way.

This is a debut album of startling originality, that seems set to cast its spell most acutely on a hot summer's night. While half of his music might be set on the Ibiza dancefloor, the other half of Yoav's soul is restlessly turning in his bed at night. It's an exquisite tension, powerfully delivered. More power to his hard working elbows!

  share with:  Facebook | Digg | other sites