Yoav - Beautiful Lie (Island)

Charlotte Guzzan | Saturday, 02 August 2008

Yoav, born to Romanian parents in Israel before settling in South Africa, rebelled against his classical upbringing by sneaking to friends' houses to listen to pop music. Turning his nose up to playing piano, cello or violin, thankfully for us he favoured the guitar passed down to him by his elder brother.

Practically a walking one man band, Yoav creates every single sound you hear through his guitar and voice. He utilises the existing strings and taps his fingers to reproduce drum patterns.

'Beautiful Lie' is ethereal and delicate; a tale told of secrets and crumbling relationships. Mature in its simplicity, it yearns and breaks, and an assertive bass line pushes him into a momentous wail that earns him the 'Beck meets Buckley meets Bjork' comparison.

The strings, if heard at the right volume and with the lights dimmed, are devastatingly heartbreaking while yet beautifully reassuring. It's hard to believe that 'Beautiful Lie', like all the tracks you'll find on Yoav's album Charmed & Strange, is constructed using just one instrument. There isn't a whiff of arrogance or apology about its self-indulgence and the hypnosis that the reverb induces makes it easy to lose yourself within the music.

It's been a long time since a singer/songwriter armed with an acoustic guitar has been quite so refreshing.

Rating 3.5/5