Hadar Shechter - Wash It Over Me (PIL ltd)

If you ever wanted to know the difference between folk and country music, I would say listen to “Wash It Over Me” the latest single from Hadar Shechter. If the two genres are essentially musical siblings, separated only by geography, having grown up and evolved in separate places, one in the Old World, the other in the New, at around the 2-minute mark of this lovely song, you hear the two have a glorious reunion.

If the song’s first half is defined by space, understatement and deft finger-picked acoustic guitars, pulsing and punctuating bass lines, all very folky, then the ushering in of the violin at the song’s mid-point seems to bridge the two worlds, and it then proceeds to add various tones and textures around itself and takes on a more countrified vibe. But, the song remains cohesive throughout this subtle and supple transition, again proving that genres aren’t a lot of use really, if they exist at all outside the world of lazy journalism.

Folk or country, it doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that Hadar Shechter has given us a gorgeous ballad in the vein of the likes of Amy McDonald, KT Tunstall or the more recent output from Nora Jones, echoing them all at their most delicate and delicious. And I can’t think of three more compelling references, not in my world, at least.

And as a footnote, if you are still wondering if she is the product of the European folk world or the US country scene, the answer is …neither!

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