Water Knives are Yair Yona & Ofer Bymel
Mixed & Mastered by Shimon Tal
256 words by Water Knives about their new single Exposure, out of the album ‘Scratch - a Tribute To Peter Gabriel’
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” (Viktor Frenkel)
Our choice of the song Exposure for the Peter Gabriel tribute project came directly from what the original song is - fertile grounds for reaping and sowing.
So we took some rhythmic and melodic hooks from the original song and started searching. At one point Peter Gabriel's words crept in - "space is what I need, it's what I feed on".
We tried delving into the essence of space, tried to understand how spaciousness serves us, what it provides us, what is allows. That's how we got to Viktor Frenkel. From there it was just a short path until Ofer recited an original text in Arabic, translated from English by Maisa Matar (the original text and translation below). So in a way, we covered the concept, not the music itself. And there you have it. Space is what you need, amen.
Gabriel, an avid supporter of the BDS, would surely be happy to find out that the music of a Tel Aviv based band contains texts in Arabic that describe the human weakness we all share, regardless of language or political borders. The weakness of self dismissal and lack of space.
October 2018 saw the release of Water Knives’ debut album Contents Hidden, a unique, intriguing blend of electronics and kraut rock, middle eastern spy movies, large cinematic soundscapes, and above all a child-like thirst for curiosity and creativity.
Exposure is a journey that kicks off with African styled percussion and morphs into techno, followed by a confession of human weakness. That confession later on disentangles into Victor Frenkel's text holding the optimism we see in front of us. In our response lie growth and freedom, and that's it actually. Space is all we need.
I often think that lack of self-esteem can ensnare me more than popularity or success.
Popularity can be a great temptation, but its alluring quality has as much appeal as self dismissal.
If I choose to believe the voices in me who call me useless or a nobody, then the attraction towards feelings of success or popularity rises even more. My own lack of self-esteem is the real black hole I fall into.
When these voices arise to criticize me, I sometimes fall into that feeling of being a good-for-nothing.
Sometimes, though, I remember to put up a fight.
مرّات بفكّر إنه عدم الثقة بالنفس بيوقّعني بالفخ أكتر من الشهرة أو النجاح.
الشهرة ممكن تكون إغراء كبير، بس طبعها الجذّاب فيه سحر متلما فيه رفض ذاتي.
اذا بختار اصدّق الاصوات جوّاتي اللي بيقولولي انّي مش نافع أو انّي ولا اشي، فالاغراء تبع الاحساس بالنجاح أو الشعبية بيزيد حتى أكتر. عدم ثقتي بنفسي هو الثقب الأسود اللي بوقع فيه.
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