Tel Aviv, Israel indie folk collective Miqedem has released its stunning third studio LP ‘Eshkona’ (meaning âI will restâ), which is the bandâs most collaborative and instrumentally diverse album to date and includes guest appearances from many of the bandâs friends in the Israeli world-music scene.
Miqedem (the ancient Hebrew word for âof oldâ or alternately, âfrom the eastâ) is a band whose music is best described as Israeli indie folk, with heavy influences from Middle-Eastern and North African music styles, often utilizing microtonal scales, irregular time signatures, and regional instruments.
Hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel, Miqedemâs music reflects a recent resurgence of interest in regional music within the Israeli music scene, a trend found in artists such as Riff Cohen, Yemen Blues, A-Wa, and many others.
Miqedemâs most unique contribution is their exclusive reliance on ancient Hebrew Scripture in their lyrics, drawing most heavily on the poetry of the Psalms.
Miqedem first came to international attention in 2019 with the viral success of their version of Psalm 23, currently standing at 3.7 million views, with their entire YouTube catalog garnering over 17 million views.
Formed in 2015, the band has toured extensively across North America and Europe, and has released two full-length studio albums, with their third, âEshkonaâ (I Will Rest) out this week.
The members of the band come from a mixture of Jewish and Christian backgrounds, but the band maintains the philosophy that people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds can appreciate the beauty of some of humanityâs most ancient, and most beloved poetic works.
Track Listing:
1 Ezkera
2 Harninu
3 Chavatzelet
4 Ever Kayona
5 Ki Leolam
6 Ma Tit’halel
7 Ashrei Ha’ish
8 Harpu
9 Yoducha
10 Havu
11 Nava Tehila
12 Tov Lehodot
13 Im Eloheicha
Initial pre-production took place from January to March 2021, at the height of the pandemic and Israelâs tight movement restrictions. It was during this time that the three songwriters of the band moved into a friendâs attic in Tel Avivâs Neve Tzedek neighborhood, where they set up a makeshift recording studio and began fleshing out ideas and recording demo tracks by themselves.
Due to the fact that not all of the band was living in Israel at the time, production was halted in March â21, but in early â22, when the band was able to re-unite in Israel on a permanent basis, production resumed. This time the band enlisted the help of producer/engineer Shahar Kaufman, whose studio, Onyx Studio, is located in the idyllic Upper Galilee region of Israel, in the small town of Rosh Pina.
In a statement from the band, Shai Sol wrote, We knew we wanted to work with Shahar. For one, I had just finished spending several weeks in Rosh Pina, and I had the pleasure of working with Shahar – and we totally hit it off. I knew that heâd understand exactly what Miqedem was trying to do, and his experience in recording ethnic instruments and producing world-music artists was just what we needed. Plus, his studio is in one of the most beautiful places in Israel. When you work there, you wake up every morning with a view of snowy Mt. Hermon. And the studio even has a stream running through its front yard. It was the kind of change we needed after spending almost three months in a Tel Aviv attic during lockdown!â
The albumâs title (‘Eshkona’, meaning âI will restâ) takes its name from the fourth track, “Ever Kayona (Wings of a Dove)”, that says, âOh that I had the wings of a dove, I would fly away and be at restâ, a sentiment reflected throughout the album, both lyrically and musically.
In a further statement, Jamie Hilsden added, “Our previous albums have a lot of pretty up-tempo songs, but when we listened back to the record we noticed that we wrote a much more restful album than in the past, and I think thatâs not a coincidence. It was written during such an awful and stressful – and uncertain – period of time. So Iâm not surprised that we were writing such calm music. We were probably trying to soothe ourselves! Same goes to the lyrics we were drawn to. There are a lot of images of rest on the album.â
The albumâs artwork was drawn and designed by Tel Aviv illustrator, Noa Goffer, and references the many images related to plant life found on the record.
Regarding the artwork, Yaron Cherniak states, âWe got to Noa Goffer through the recommendation of our mutual friend Sharona Cantor, who we enlisted as our art director. We had seen Noaâs work around before, but as soon as we all sat down to choose an artist, we all felt that Noa was right for this record. She has such a unique way of depicting nature, plant-life and the animal kingdom. We knew that if we gave her the record, and she heard all the imagery we ended up using on it, sheâd know just what to do.â