Tel Aviv is having a bit of a moment in 2017. The cultural capital was been emitting some of our favourite sounds of this year, spanning from jazz to soul, hip-hop to R&B and house. Vogue named R&B producer/singer ZIV as “the most sexually liberated artist of 2016“, Tel Aviv is home to a club that Mixmag have crowned “possibly the best sound-system in the world” and local beatmaker Cohenbeats just got signed to Stones Throw Records.
All of these ingredients have contributed to some amazing musical output this year, with Raw Tapes being the most prolific label in the city. Artists like Buttering Trio, Mo Rayon and Cohenbeats have all put out defining releases on the label, and now one of the city’s best trumpeters/composers Sefi Zisling is incorporating his style of afro-jazz and psychedelic funk into a pivotal release on the label.
Produced by head-honcho of Raw Tapes – Rejoicer – the two artists elevated this to something more than music. They meditated on childhood memories and lucid dreams, had back-to-back DJ sets that ran long through the evening and had massive vinyl listening sessions before creating this record. And it shows. The whole LP is a dialogue between bright and dark colours, solid grooves and abstract melodies.
Today we premiere our favourite track off the release, ‘Very Light Blue’, which features the dreamy vocals of Elran Dekel. Beginning with cloud chords that softly rise and fall against and swaying slow shuffle rhythm, astral vocals float in a call and response with Sefi’s sweet trumpet notes. The whole track is awash with psychedelic layers, that sits somewhere between The Beatles and Thundercat. A perfect anthem to lose yourself in on a sunny afternoon.
Sefi Zisling’s Beyond The Things I Know LP is available to buy on vinyl and digi via Bandcamp.
