Hemdat-Avot (Father’s Grace)

2023 NativeDSD Album of the Year – World Music

Nothing about Iggy Dayan – singer, drummer, guitarist, novelist, and a member of Mashina, Israel’s legendary rock group – would hint at the turn he took in his latest solo projects. His new album, Hemdat Avot, is a masterpiece comprised of details, minute and grand. It is an almost monastic creation, that presents much-loved Israeli classics, arranged for solely voice and guitar.

In Hebrew, “Hemdat Avot” stands for appreciation of an individual’s ancestors and of one’s former generations. In addition, “Eretz Hemdat Avot” is a synonym for the Land (Eretz) of Israel. In this album, Dayan evaluates and tightens his relationship with Israeli music. Like an adopted child, who, when grown up, embarks on a journey to find his parents, he ventures deep into the Classic-Israeli song portfolio, looking for the gems that may have given birth to his own music. While his early creations were characterized by a distinct distancing from Israeli culture and from the Hebrew language – attempting to resemble the western music that he loved – his current work must match his lifestyle and his habitation, and, thus, be free, while tightly coupled to true roots.

While folk and rock music always “sounded right” when performed in English, Dayan’s romance with the Hebrew language strengthened over the years. In addition to the songs he had written and recorded since adolescence, his first acclaimed novel, “Chava”, was recently published. Amongst its many facets, the novel deals with various Israeli archetypes, as well as with personal identity. Like in the case of that imaginary, adopted child, typical questions started to surface: Who am I? What created me? What are the similarities between my forebearers and myself?

Dayan and his collaborator, the producer and sonic guru Tal Trivish, jointly decided to experiment with treating mythological, classical Israeli songs in the same manner they treat the original music they produce, a methodology based on voice and guitar that are performed and recorded simultaneously, as a monolithic whole. They strived to strip these timeless creations of the arrangements that engulfed them – that are true to the time they were conceived – so as to expose and accentuate their lyrics and their melody. For this reason, they decided that this album will not contain any additional instruments.

Hemdat-Avot was recorded in Stereo DSD 256 using the Anubis Premium Analog to Digital Converter and Preamp from Merging Technologies with Nordic Audio Lab NU100K microphones,  AccuSound MX4 and IX3 cables, Amphion One 18 & OS Acoustics DBS8 monitor loudspeakers, Grace Design M905 monitor controller, Sendy Audio Aiva headphones and Triad Orbit microphone stands.

Iggy Dayan – Acoustic Guitar & Vocals