Israeli singer-songwriter Irit Dekel supports Lisa Stansfield on 12-date UK tour

Sophie Clinton | 8th February 2018

Israeli singer-songwriter Irit Dekel is returning to the North West supporting Lisa Stansfield on her 12-date UK tour 

After supporting Caro Emerald on tour and working with Eldad Zitrin on covers for Last of Songs, Irit was well-received when she promoted her  jazzy/Latin solo album Hello at Band On The Wall in February.

She will be supporting Lisa at The Lowry in Salford on Sunday 15 April 2018.

Born in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, Irit worked as a sniper whilst carrying out her military service in the Israeli military, worked as a stage actress in Tel Aviv, co-hosted a late-night show, and starred in a comedy TV series.

With all this experience, Irit took the brave decision to relocate from Tel Aviv to London, which has now resulted in her latest album.

Irit explains: ”It was quite lonely when I first moved to London, it was a huge city. It was tough, but as time went by it feels better and better.

”I’m gaining new friends and I’m getting used to the vibe of the city.

”I’ve been given a really great opportunity to just come here and do my own thing.”

Whilst in London, Irit met lots of music producers, but it wasn’t until she met a man named Jonathan Quarmby that the album Hello was created.

Irit said: ”We started to work together and it was fabulous.

”I’ve been writing since I was eight years old, everything like short text, thoughts, feelings, everything basically.

”I transcribed most of my material into English before I met Jonathan, and I brought all of my writing to his studio.

”I told him I was looking for my own signature and my own sound, I aimed towards music that contained fusion and we just started to dig into all the material and we brought it to life.”

Irit says a wide variety of musical references, such as progressive rock, Latino, The Wicker Man (1973 British film), latin guitars and old playlists from classical music, contribute to the album.

Irit continues: ”The sound of my music, plus personal stories from my neighbourhood where I grew up, my own experiences as a child, as a teen, as an adult, relationships with people and communicating with people, all make up the tone of the album.”

The blend of jazz and Latin rhythms with guitar, accordion, trumpets, and Irit’s unique, effortless vocals create an album full of melody.

Irit explains: ”To my knowledge, it’s not a very typical sound in the UK. It’s very interesting to the ear. It’s also challenging in a way, but in a good way. The stories and the way I deliver the text, I think is quite different.

”People can definitely expect that it’s going to be a lot of fun. The melody just gives you depth. It’s very upbeat and uplifting, so it’s not too heavy, it’s pure fun.”

Using her life experiences as the inspiration for songs, Irit believes she can really reach people.

Irit explains: ”I don’t know if you can really reach people if it’s not personal. I’m not going to talk about something that never happened to me, or I have never thought about, or I haven’t struggled with.

”From being personal, I can just take it and give it a spin and just create it as fiction.

”Not everything is based on a true story, there is a lot of fiction in the album. Then I can create my own kind of story.

”I just play with that and just have fun.”

Irit has performed twice in Manchester before, whilst supporting Caro Emerald on tour and she’s certainly excited to be returning.

Irit said: ”Manchester is gorgeous, the crowd was great and the place was awesome.

”I’ve visited the library in the city centre which was amazing, so it’s going to be my second time in Manchester and I can’t wait.

”I’m really looking forward to it, I can’t wait. I can play with my band and I get to meet new people.

”I just get to perform my own music and what can be more wonderful than that.”

Irit’s passion for music stems from growing up on jazz, classical, pop and Latino music. She hopes her passion for music will touch people’s hearts and ears.

She explains: ”I want to give people something different and it would be great if people come to my shows and I can let them forget their troubles for a few hours. ”

Irit’s solo album Hello is out now. She will be performing at The Lowry in Salford on Sunday 15 April 2018. Click here to buy tickets. 

Listen to Irit here.

Read more: “I’ve not been this proud of an album for a long time” – Lisa Stansfield

Irit is also appearing at the Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire – read more here.