Apifera – Nitai Hershkovits, Yuvi Havkin, Amir Bresler, and Yonatan Albalak – bring a melting pot of influences and experience to their second album, Keep the Outside Open. When these different musicians come together, the effect is like switching between radio stations: a dash of prog, a twist of post-rock, and a heavy dose of psychedelia, with the members’ shared background in jazz tying it all together. Keep the Outside Open came about organically, arising from the friends’ hangouts at Yuvi’s studio, culminating in late-night smoke sessions spent laughing at dad jokes, goofy names for demos, and made-up words: “Bazooka” when the music is happy, “sweating at the gig” when the arrangement isn’t tight, and “slug” if things aren’t clicking. Apifera’s Stones Throw debut, Overstand, was instrumental, but when it came to recording Keep The Outside Open, they felt closer than ever and ready to try a more intimate approach. They let their imaginations run wild, wrapping personal stories from everyday life within fantasy and fictional characters.
The band’s members all have deep roots in their musical community: Yuvi releases electronic jazz as Rejoicer; Yonatan is the frontman for post-rock/psych jazz band Geshem; Amir’s group Liquid Saloon blends afrobeat with jazz-funk; and Nitai is best-known for his solo piano records, with a 2023 album on ECM (spot the nod to the label in Keep The Outside Open’s tracklist). They call on their friend, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, for the album’s closing track, “Sera Sam.”
Much like the obscure, mirrored image that graces the front of their new album, Apifera’s music is an optical illusion for the ears. “Iris Is Neil” is one of the four singles from their upcoming LP, which is set to be released on June 21. The hypnotic chaos of the track features crashing drum patterns and searing guitars that are tied together by distant yet palpable vocals. Apifera’s hectic psychedelia is a product of their willingness to evolve. Outside of their overall skills as musicians, they allow each of their ideas to grow, resulting in the avalanche of influences that leap from jazzy electronics to experimental rock. A track like “Iris Is Neil” is completely void of ego. The amalgamation of ideas creates a complex yet inviting environment that blends the band members into an immovable force of dense textures and neck-breaking drums.
Apifera’s new album title surfaced after “We’re closing the outside” was yelled after shows at their favorite local jazz club. They decided to give the words a “surreal twist” for the record: “Over the last few years, we’ve felt the walls closing on our everyday lives, our culture and music. Keep The Outside Open is a call for the world to be open. To return to its free and wild state.” Mindful that this is a heartbreaking time of violence and war, the band adds, “We do not support violence of any kind and can’t fathom how the world today could choose anything other than peace, but until such a time comes when humanity can transcend boundaries and conflicts, we are dedicated to the unifying power of music.”
