Off The Radar is the debut studio album by Israeli pop musician Noga Erez, released on 2 June 2017 by the label City Slang. Erez started her career with intentions of only releasing singles, but the similarity of themes in the songs she was writing and being signed to City Slang convinced her to have a full-length album in her discography. Off The Radar was compared by multiple critics to the works of acts such as M.I.A., FKA Twigs, Björk, and Grimes and was labeled by Erez as "very high rhythmic dancey music with political content." It lyrically depicts her PJ Harvey-inspired personal and emotional takes on world problems such as surveillance, media manipulation, sexual assault, and social media. Among its sound design and production, the record's use of controversial political subject matter alongside fun music styles helped the album garner critical acclaim upon its distribution. Off The Radar was promoted with four single releases ("Dance While You Shoot", "Pity", "Toy", and "Off The Radar") and six music videos that were directed by Erez as well as other talents such as Zhang + Knight, Hen Makhluf, Eden Kalif, Daniella Meroz, and Omri Ben Shalom.
Background Erez started her career in electronic music releasing singles and having no intentions of having a full-length album in her discography.Greenberg, Jennifer (3 August 2017). "Flying above the radar: an interview with Noga Erez". Time Out. Time Out Group. Retrieved 22 November 2017. However, that changed when City Slang, a German label that noticed Erez's 2014 cover of the song "Weapons" by Son Lux, signed her in the summer of 2016Davidson-Vidavski, Doron (15 December 2016). "The 405 meets Noga Erez" . The 405. Retrieved 23 November 2017. and both she and her production partner Ori Rousso noticed common themes in all the songs they were writing and producing. Thus, Off the Radar was released on 2 June 2017.
Production and composition
Off The Radar is a set of ten full-length tracks, three short "passage" tracks ("Quiet One", "Hit U", and "A Hit Is A Hit"), and a passage played in two parts ("Instruction" and "Side Effect").Robertson, Derek (26 May 2017). "Noga Erez's Track By Track Guide to Off The Radar" . Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Retrieved 23 November 2017. The passages serve to prepare the listener for the following song. Erez herself categorized Off The Radar as "very high rhythmic dancey music with political content." Noisey labeled it as an experimental pop album, and NPR Music categorized it as an electropop record in the vein of Sylvan Esso.Thompson, Stephen (15 May 2017). "Noga Erez Imagines A Dystopia Where The Hand-People Judge Us All". NPR Music. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Kate Hutchinson of The Observer wrote some of the album's "jerky" instrumentals have "an escapist ebullience about them, all neon sharpie synths and catherine wheels of electronic bloops", and "others an oppressive, danceable dread."
All of the songs were written for more than two years and recorded and mixed in the Tel Aviv-based Dorit Studios and Even Yehuda-based Avner Studios. For most of the tracks on Off The Radar, the instrumental was made first and the lyrics came afterwards. Mixing was near completed by December 2016. Some of the sounds were tracked outside of the studios. The glass-breaking foley on "Toy" was recorded at a recycling place, where Erez and Rousso threw the bottles in a bin that gave the glass breaks an echo effect. Critic Michael Sumsion described the sounds on the album as "extremely personal and informed by experience whilst suffused with wigged-out flourishes of microscopic deftness." He analyzed that "the fractured and unwieldy blurts, burps, bass blasts, whooshes and clanks embedded in her jerky arrangements are presented with a brio that confounds as much as it communicates, wringing agitation as well as catharsis from its ominous, chaotic soundscape."
Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, Björk, Frank Ocean, Little Simz, M.I.A., St. Vincent, FKA Twigs, and Grimes were heavy influences of the album's sound,Hageman, Estefania (7 July 2017). "noga erez". Schon. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Erez particularly highlighting FKA Twigs and Grimes as "massive influence[s] in terms of creating so much more beyond [their] music." In fact, Off The Radar garnered the most comparisons to the works of M.I.A.Homewood, Ben (15 February 2017). "On The Radar: Noga Erez". Music Week. NewBay Retrieved 23 November 2017. and FKA Twigs from critics,Parks, Andrew (17 March 2017). "SXSWatch: Noga Erez’s Fitful Dance-Pop Carries Potent Messages". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 23 November 2017. the former due to its socio-political commentary,Todd, Bella (31 July 2017). "Discover why Noga Erez should be on your radar". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved 22 November 2017. Erez's sing-talking performance, and what writer Bella Todda described as "clattering rhythms" and "wonk-pop hooks," and the latter for its "broken beats," (as described by Noisey) vocal processing, and "cinematic sparseness" (as labeled by Hutchinson). The album's sound was also commonly compared by reviewers to Björk and Grimes.
Lyrics and themes
Described by Erez as being "all over the place because it is so influenced by everything that's happening," Off The Radar deals with world issues such as surveillance, media manipulation, sexual assault, and social media drama.Hutchinson, Kate (14 May 2017). "Noga Erez: ‘I get told by people not to talk about what is happening in Israel’". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 22 November 2017. Erez states the album is about the fact “that you can’t really trust the people who are responsible for running your life – your financial life, your security, everything." The title track deals with many people's desires for recognition and how companies use social media to control people's identities.Kaplan, Ilana (4 April 2017). "Tel Aviv's Fearless Noga Erez and Her New Song "Off the Radar". Noisey. Vice Media. Retrieved 22 November 2017. "Pity", a song about how females are "used" in the real world, was inspired by a gang rape that took place at a nightclub in Tel Aviv in 2015. People filmed the crime via smartphones instead of helping the rape victim, which Erez was disgusted by. "Toy" is a song about a corrupt society told from the views of two people: the person who was recently dethroned from his position as a leader and the new head of the society. The record also occasionally deals with the feelings of having white privilege. In particular, "Dance While You Shoot," a critique on a "more extreme, more religious, more nationalistic" government in Erez's words, is about enjoying life "when you know that the very existence of your life is something that harms others."
Despite these themes, Erez wrote the lyrics based on rhythm rather than grammar, which, as Huchinson claimed, made them "playful yet often oblique." Erez's take on political problems was influenced by PJ Harvey, her reasoning being that Harvey approached controversial subjects in an "effective way and she still manages to keep it very personal." While numerous critics have described the album as a protest record, Erez did not agree with this categorization, as the LP "is more of an emotional documentation of events and influences in our lives...how we experience the world." She wanted the lyrics to relate to her listeners on a "global" level, reasoning that "we all have this primal need to be noticed." As Erez explained, "You can hear one of my songs and say ‘hey, that song is about America’ or ‘that one is about Trump.’ The only message I truly stand behind is the need to wake up because crazy things are happening everywhere today."
Singles and music videos After being signed to City Slang, Erez emailed "maybe 15 or 20" demos to the label. However, it wasn't until Erez sent "Dance While You Shoot", a song she wrote in October 2016, that the label was ecstatic, and thus it was chosen as her first single for the imprint, released on 2 November 2016."Dance While You Shoot – Single". Noga Erez Official Bandcamp Page. Retrieved 22 November 2017. The video for "Dance While You Shoot" was released the same day as its singleStubbs, Stuart (3 November 2016). "We’ve just discovered Tel Aviv’s Noga Erez and her debut single for City Slang, ‘Dance While You Shoot’". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 23 November 2017. and was directed by Zhang + Knight. Influenced by the infrared works of Richard Mosse,Samways, Gemma (19 December 2016). "Noga Erez is making music with a vision out of Tel Aviv, and she doesn’t have a Plan B". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 22 November 2017. the video shifts randomly between concrete-filled imagery and quick burst of fuchsia colors, which serves as a symbol of "violence, corruption and desperation." There are also shots of Erez dancing and standing still in the video. The music video was originally planned to be filmed in the Ukrainian town of Pripyat due to its deserted atmosphere. However, the producers ended up filming the video in the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv. Erez described Kyiv as an "interesting place," having "a very dark side to it."
"Pity" was Off The Radar's second single, issued on 1 February 2017,"Pity – Single". Noga Erez Official Bandcamp Page. Retrieved 22 November 2017. and also received a music video directed by Zhang + Knight and issued the same day.O'Connor, Samantha (31 January 2017). "Noga Erez shares bold and brave visual for 'Pity' and announces debut album". The 405. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Filmed in London, it depicts Erez standing around old televisions with screens displaying her from different angles, which serves as a symbol for "how quickly and easily video documentation becomes shared, publicised and distorted" according to her. "Toy" was released on 28 February 2017 as the album's third single,"Toy" . Noga Erez Official Bandcamp. Retrieved 23 November 2017. and Stereogum premiered the track's music video on 8 March 2017.Ilkowski, Kim (8 March 2017). "Noga Erez – “Toy” Video". Stereogum. SpinMedia. Retrieved 23 November 2017. The Hen Makhluf-directed video depicts Erez and a set of dancers on the rooftop of a building located in a city mostly consisting of "human-monster hybrids." Makhluf also directed the video for "Noisy", which was filmed at Ralli Museum located in Erez's hometown of Caesarea and released on 29 June 2017."Noga Erez shares new video for "Noisy"". City Slang Official Website. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017. As Erez summarized, the video is "the story of a group of girls who can create havoc even in the most peaceful and civilized places. The group of girls represent the noise that exists in our minds, the voices that are always there and prevent clear and rational thought."