The road to salvation
Regardless of what Yigal Bashan is doing, he is always working on a new album. Listen to the first single from his upcoming album, 'And there is one woman'
The year 2008 marks the 10th anniversary of singer Yigal Bashan's weekly radio show, 'Bein Shishi LeBashan", which is broadcast every Friday on Israel Radio. It appears that over the years, new aspects in Bashan's personality have been brought out.
"The responses I keep getting on the show are a great compliment because this is a completely different aspect in me," he tells Ynet. "The writing, the current affairs. This is something people never knew that I had."
The 1970s are long gone, and many years have passed since his songs "Sivan" and "Yesh Li Tzipor Ktana Balev" (I have a small bird in my heart) were released, but Bashan, 57, never stopped creating music.
On Tuesday he released a new single, "Veyesh Isha Ahat" (and there is one woman), written by Tal Segev and Yaakov Lamai. Listen to it here for the first time:
"Ever since I can remember, when I am asked what I'm up to, I say, 'I'm on the way to an album,'" Bashan laughs. "So yes, we are at the sketching stage. I'm writing songs and others are too. There is a new, wonderful connection with Tal Segev and Yaakov Lamai, whom I did not know before.
"I am very connected to melodists, and unfortunately there have not been many of those in recent years. Those who write melodies are those who write from their souls and not from knowledge. I usually connect to these kinds of people."
How updated are you on Israeli music nowadays?
"The amount of music is crazy, so the word 'updated' is irrelevant. I love the radio and I listen to it a lot, almost every new song released and played on the radio. The amount does not make so much sense in our small country, but there is also an advantage to it, because the ultimate survivors will be the real artists, and this will only be discovered throughout the years.
"In addition, there is a bulk of media in recent years, and it is really difficult to know who listens to what and when. There are so many people who are so talented, like there were during my generation.
"They are constantly looking for the new thing, and that's fine. I don’t think that anyone has managed to bring something so new since The Beatles, but they try. Eventually, the melody wins. The content is what's important and will determine music in the coming years."
And finally, what would you like to wish yourself for the new year?
"The cliché is, you know, health. But I think I would like to smile a lot, to have many reasons to smile."
