A Song That Breathes: Gideon Unna “What Is Love”.
3 min read
Gideon Unna, an Israeli artist, comes out as a heart and soul voice in a world that is growing short of sincerity. A singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist with a background of incorporating the old roots of Israeli music with the new perspectives, Unna’s music is based on the spirituality of the Jewish people, the relations between humanity, and the everlasting narrative. His independent and authentic career has made him write songs that cut across borders. His new single, What Is Love, is his second time working with the radiant Kaley Halperin, a singer with whom he initially interacted via social media. They create a musical collaboration that is as real as it is heart-wrenching. This album is not some other song; it is a sequel to the artistic quest of Unna to find her place in the world of chaos and feel the need to explain herself by means of music that is both personal, meditative, and essential.
What Is Love begins as a conversation between two unknown people who know one another. Halperin sails over every note in his voice, with some gentle acoustic guitars, like the sun coming through a stained-glass window, delicate, radiant, and full of silent conviction. The background is given a light feel with the keyboards of Yoav Asif and a steady but never overpowering heartbeat of the drums of Yotam Botner. The song does not pose its main question with aggression, as it is an important question, but it is presented with grace. What is love? And in that asking, it also gives responses in feeling, not in affirmation. The violins of Oren Tzur fill them with emotional charges and make the arrangement sound like a prayer. Unna tends to produce in a reflective way where he relies on his collaborators to add their own flavours into the mix, creating a piece that sounds alive, spontaneous, and very human. This track is influenced partly by George Harrison, born in the grief of constant war and tragedy. This song turns the hate into softness, fighting for beauty. It doesn’t preach; it breathes.
What Is Love was recorded in small, calm studios in the countryside of Israel, and it contains something of both the quietness of the land and the turbulence of its times. It is a reality-influenced song that runs on hope, a call to stop violence, a silent worship of the power of love. The collaboration with the famous sound engineer Yoram Vazan makes Unna keep the mix intact and close and personal, with each instrument and voice having its own space to be heard. This single is a preview of a forthcoming album, and it gives the impression that the piece is a reflective, renewing, and reconnecting album. In his personal words, Gideon Unna says: I love music, love life, and love the world– I only want to share this love. And with this song, he makes just that, because he provides us with a place to escape, with a reminder, and most importantly, with a reason to continue believing in the soft power of song.
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