Biography

Musician Idan Raichel was born on the 12th of September 1977 and comes from Kfar Saba. Idan reached enormous fame and popularity on Israeli radio with his Project, distinctive for its fusion with ballads, electronics, and incorporation of the voices of the new Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel.

Prior to the Project, Raichel worked as a highly-regarded keyboardist although he played the accordion as a child. He had achieved particular fame for his work with songwriter Ivri Lider.

Helicon released his first and self-titled album in 2002, with Raichel composing and arranging many tracks, as well as performing vocals and on the keyboard, while collaborating with numerous other artists for vocal and instrumental parts. Including three hit singles, the album hit an Israeli platinum (40,000 copies sold) within four months, and has sold over 105 thousand copies to date. Hit singles include Come (Boi), If You Go (Im Telech) and Speaking Softly (M'dab'rim B'sheket). The popularity of these tracks within Israel also brought the artist to fame among Zionist diaspora communities, particularly the youth.

While Raichel sings the majority of his songs in Hebrew, a few are entirely in Amharic, while others include small samples sung in this Ethiopian language, both by male and female voices, setting traditional-sounding tunes to modern music. Love-songs predominate in his Hebrew lyrics, including Thou art Fair (Hinech Yafah) based on the Song of Songs, while the opening track also reaches into the depths of Jewish liturgy, with Blessings For A New Year (B'rachot L'shanah Chadashah) sampling voices reciting traditional Jewish blessings.

Idan Raichel released his second album, From the Depths (Mimaamakim) in 2005, having released the title track in end of the preceding year. This first track, reminiscent of the opening of Psalm 130 (traditionally recited by Jews in times of distress), attracted similar airplay to that of Raichel's earlier hits.

In addition to more catchy tunes in Hebrew and Amharic, Raichel adds Arabic (in Azini), another African language (in Siyaishaya Ingoma) and Yemenite Hebrew to his linguistic repertoire.