We can say that after enthralling the Israeli audiences with his 2020 album and various singles, Gideon Unna offers another piece of musical success with the ninth release of the year, What Is Love, which is accompanied by the expressive vocalist, Kaley Halperin. The song is a light, romantic ballad with its depth, emotional appeal, and spiritual question. Known to combine melody, Judaism, and spirituality into his work, Unna exhibits one more time his impressive skills to produce the art, which appeals to the emotional and spiritual levels.
What Is Love goes beyond the questioning, based on decades of spiritual exploration, such as world tours and immersion in Hasidic theology and Kabbalah, Unna takes all his decades-long quest to meaning and makes it into this captivating song. Together with the bright performance of the song by Halperin, brilliant arrangements by Oren Tzur to the violin and high-quality production by Lior Medan, the song turns into a full sensual experience that is both weighty yet thought-provoking with radiant overtones throughout.
Unna says that love is more than just a feeling but a mode of being, a highly generalized truth that transcends any borders of religion, culture and music. By doing this composition, he wants the audience to be brought back to love, at its purest form, and perceive it as music, spiritual expression, and life at the same time. This album is an extension of his spiritual purpose in music of combining spiritual wisdom and modern musical artistry.
Listen to What Is Love feat Kaley Halperin below
Follow Gideon Unna on
Congratulations on the release of “What is Love feat Kaley Halperin.” What inspired you to explore this universal question through music?
I’ve been searching for the spiritual and the answers to the questions of living almost all my life. Even as a child, I’ve been dreaming and wandering about life, who I am where this journey is going. And after a long trip in the east especially in India, I came back to Israel and started learning Hasidic teachings and Kaballa, and I realised it’s all about love. This is the pure enlightenment of love. And to live this love in any way possible through music , art, science, economics, extra love is the only answer
How did the collaboration with Kaley Halperin come about? What made her the perfect artist to feature on this track?
I was searching for a singer and I saw Kaley on Facebook and liked her voice so much, so I asked her if she would like to come to the north to sing.(She’s from Tel Aviv) and fortunately, she said yes. She is really a great woman and she’s a spiritual leader, what’s gives her extra points
The question “what is love” has been asked throughout history in countless ways. What’s your personal answer to this question, and how does it show up in the song?
My personal answer to what is love? Is you have to be love, and in order to be LOVE you have to ask all the wise people in history, dead or living, what is love. And then practice it. I’ve been asking rabbis and guru’s and sheikh from all tradition not always in a meeting but through their books. And obviously, I “asked” the great masters of our time. In music such as the Beatle,s Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and so on. And it’s a life journey
Walk us through your creative process for this track. Did you and Kaley work together in the studio, or was it a remote collaboration?
Kaley came to record when there was a complete playback. Infact I was searching for a singer, the right singer, and it was a guy who was supposed to sing it and every time we tried to set a session it didn’t work out, I understood the hint God gave me. And called Kaley to come and record, and she didn’t have time, but in the end we managed to do it. And you can enjoy it as well
How would you describe the sound and style of “What is Love”? What musical elements did you use to capture the emotion behind this question?
The style of the song is very much old school, 60’s era, hope we got the right result. I love it, and it’s especially cause I’m working with great and talented people. In the case of the sound, my big appreciation is to my friend Yoram Vazan a master in sound engineering. Worked for many years in New York and reasonable on the sound of some gold albums. I asked him if we could get something hippy, and sent him things like meet on the ledge of Fairport Convention or the Small Faces, and I think he did a really good job
What do you hope listeners feel or think about when they hear this song? Is there a specific message you want to communicate?
The message is love through music that inspired and brought the essence of times when it seems love was everywhere. I mean the 60′ 70′ . And I believe the power of music to do good. To people’s Mind and Heart
How does Kaley’s contribution shape the overall feel of the track? What does her voice and style bring to the song?
Kaley brings a big enlightened soul to the song. And besides that she’s also a great singer with a beautiful voice
Is “What is Love feat Kaley Halperin” part of a larger project, like an upcoming EP or album, or does it stand alone?
It’s a part of an album, hopefully that I’m working on. There will be other voices in the next singles hope it will come out nice
What’s next for Gideon Unna after this release? Are there more collaborations or solo projects in the works?
First, I have to tell you I enjoy answering your questions so much, they are wise and clever. In the near future, I’m going back to university to continue studying music, and I will record and work on new songs and hope we can have another interview when the album is ready. Thanks and hopefully peace on earth.
