OI VA VOI share new single Lay Your Head out now. Plus new London show announced
"Oi Va Voi’s vitality and sound is still there, but it comes with an urgent new twist.” Evening Standard
“The most adventurous of bands reinventing the Jewish klezmer tradition.” The Guardian
“A powerfully contagious new sound.” BBC
"Some of their best songs yet.” MOJO
OI VA VOI Share New Single Lay Your Head
From The New Album The Water’s Edge (Parallel Skies Records)
PLUS Gig at Islington Assembly Hall 12th November – Tickets on Sale Today
Lay Your Head is the fourth single taken from London outfit Oi Va Voi’s new album The Water’s Edge.
The song is a meditation on emotional distance, longing, and the quiet presence of the city. Its verses draw listeners into a world of isolation and introspection, where the noise of life has faded and only London remains observing, collecting secrets and keeping untold stories. Textured layers and dynamic instrumentation build towards the chorus, in which Steve Levi-Kallin’s vocal brings a sense of light and relief, celebrating the joy of children at play – a tonic for a world that often feels heavy. His refrain speaks to innocence as a form of healing, “dissolving the fury” with carefree energy.
The band also announce a show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on 12th November, their first gig in the capital since their sell-out show at Bush Hall in May.
Both single and show come off the back of a turbulent time for the band who had two shows promoting their new album abruptly cancelled by venues in Bristol and then Brighton, due to pressure from activist groups. Known for fusing a singer-songwriter sensitivity and a rock’n’roll sensibility with their Jewish cultural heritage, and a cosmopolitan rhythmic inspiration drawn from the UK, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and beyond, Oi Va Voi have always had social consciousness at the forefront of their themes which explore questions of identity and displacement.
Following the show cancellations, Oi Va Voi, who have spent 20 years playing in many countries to audiences of diverse backgrounds, cultures and religions stated:
“Anyone who knows Oi Va Voi knows that we sing songs which are socially conscious, humanitarian, and speak to audiences across divides. We are a non-political band who play to bring people together, not to polarise them, and we are proud of that.”
Lay Your Head features singer Zohara Niddam whose unique vocals featured on Previous single Shine a Light and Oi Va Voi’s last album Memory Drop (2018, V2 Benelux Records), and is mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer and composer Jonathan Quarmby.
The Water’s Edge, from which Lay Your Head is taken, is Oi Va Voi’s fifth album. The band were founded in 2000 by current members Josh Breslaw (drums) and Steve Levi-Kallin (vocals, clarinet) alongside four since-departed members, and have over their five albums collaborated with top musicians such as KT Tunstall and Bridgette Amofah (Rudimental), won a BBC World Music Award, toured Europe extensively including home shows at the Roundhouse, Glastonbury and Shepherds Bush Empire, with much critical acclaim from The Guardian declaring them “Astonishing. On Several Counts” through to Songlines Magazine who named Oi Va Voi the “Top 20 Artists of the Last Twenty Years”. They have had extensive radio support including from BBC Radio 2, 3, 4 and 6 Music.
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