Asaf Avidan

The first thing you notice about Asaf Avidan’s music is his voice—androgynously high-pitched, piercingly melodic, cracking with a timeless sense of the blues. With those powerful pipes, Avidan has carved out a reputation around the globe as an uncannily talented singer/songwriter in the tradition of Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, putting his own stamp on folk, rock, and R&B. Born in Jerusalem in 1980, Avidan, the son of Israeli diplomats, spent his childhood years in Jamaica and New York. He studied animation in college but threw himself into music in 2006 after going through a breakup. Forming the group Asaf Avidan & The Mojos, he and his bandmates soon became stars in Israel with the subtle passions of albums like 2008’s The Reckoning and 2009’s Poor Boy / Lucky Man. The band broke up in the early 2010s, but Avidan’s renown rose even higher when German DJ Wankelmut’s 2012 remix of their single “Reckoning Song” became an international hit. Avidan went on to release solo albums at a steady clip, exploring various styles and textures in service of his haunting, confessional voice.