Gifted, powerful and gentle are often the words used to describe Lior, the Melbourne-based independent Israeli-Australian writer, performer and entertainer. They also describe his most recent collaboration with acclaimed composer, pianist and polymath Paul Grabowsky, which sees the pair reinventing some of Lior’s most cherished songs.
“Essentially, it’s just a reinterpretation and cross section of my catalogue of piano and voice. Because so much of what I do is guitar focused, we decided we’d get together and try and reinvent a lot of the songs on piano. I play a few songs on guitar, but most of it is Paul painting all the colours around me, and I have a chance to really just stand and deliver the lyrics,” Lior says.
With his usual hints of Middle Eastern influences expressed in soaring falsettos and twisting melodies alongside his nimble guitar playing, Lior confesses that the collaboration of piano and his voice is not what one might expect from the show.
“It’s actually quite the opposite,” he laughs, “the guitar is a really earthy instrument, particularly the acoustic guitar and it’s why I love it, because it’s very human, and imperfect. The piano is the grandest of all the instruments, and particularly with such a masterful player like Paul, he just gets so much colour from it that it’s actually really quite diverse what he does around my voice.
“For me, it’s really lovely just to be able to stand and really connect with the lyric. I love playing guitar but when I’m not playing it, it really does free you up in a sense to be completely at one with the lyric and just be freer with your voice and how you deliver those lyrics, and know Paul was going to cover every inch of emotion with the piano the way he plays it.”
Lior shot to the public’s attention following his 2005 debut album Autumn Flow, which became one of the most successful independent releases in Australian history, and to which he celebrated the 10-year anniversary with a massive tour in 2015. This tour marked the start of a hiatus of his own shows and the first of performing in a musical.
“I kind of felt like it had been 10 years and five albums, I felt like maybe I need a break from the cycle of touring and then I got a phone call from the producers of the Australian production of Fiddler on the Roof,” he says. “I thought ‘why the hell not’, so I auditioned and I got a really good feeling from it. I’m really glad I did it and at the end of that I sort of felt really energised and reinvigorated to get back into what I do.
“Everything about it kind of came together and felt really right but at the moment I’m now immersed back into the album and touring ways,” Lior says, who is currently working on completing and releasing a new album and extensive tour later this year.
When & Where: Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo – April 29
Written by Talia Rinaldo
