Behind the scenes of Crimson Lullaby

This song is very special to me and I thought I'd share a little bit about how it was made.

It was written at 3am during one of those nights when I couldn't sleep because my mind wouldn't stop racing. Prior to that day I read a book that was written about a family going through WWII and the Holocaust.

The story was written from a little girl's perspective and it talked about all the horrors her family had to endure during their time in the concentration camps. Family members died, disease everywhere, no food, beatings and torture, the works.. But what spoke to me the most was how the parents must have felt, trying to protect their children (quite unsuccessfully, 2/3 died). This feeling of helplessness resonated with me for days after I finished the book. It horrified me to my core.

When I wrote the song, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about my own children who were sleeping peacefully in their beds without a care in the world. I tried to imagine what that mother was feeling and I was very overwhelmed by those emotions.

I wanted to protect my children from the horrors of the world but I knew that I couldn't. I knew that no matter what we do as parents, our children will be exposed to some horrific stuff during their lives. I felt like the demons were constantly waiting in the dark. Just waiting for the right moment to come out.

This song is about just that. It talks about a child sleeping peacefully, while the demons are circling around the bed, tugging on the blanket, penetrating the innocent mind and corrupting everything that is good.

I wanted this song to be confronting and musically a bit unexpected. I blended 2 genres that I didn't know would work. The first part of the song is all bellydance, sort of cinematic exotic world. I wanted it to feel like there is this beautiful, magical world opening up in front of you. But pretty soon it goes very dark and takes any kind of hope away.

The second part of the song is angry industrial, with the sounds of air raid mixed in, to drive the point of war and demons, helplessness and fear. Every time I listen to that part, I get goosebumps, my heart rate jumps up and I am immersed in the fear.

Growing up in Israel, the threat of war was ever present. The anxiety that is associated with the sound of the air raid can send anyone who has been through it into a full blown panic attack. I wanted to recreate that feeling in this song.

All of the instruments were done by me at my home studio. However, we recorded my vocals and percussion in the studio with the help of Richard Seaglove, who is an awesome drummer/percussionist.

It was a really great experience, especially because I didn't know how deeply this song will end up affecting me. The process of writing, mixing and producing it was truly therapeutic for me and helped me deal with some unresolved issues from my past.

Here's a short video of behind the scenes