Writing songs is what Goldy has always wanted to do.
And with the upcoming release of her first ever single 'Shalom', which she will debut at her concert this Sunday, the Ukrainian Jewish singer is on the precipice of realising a childhood dream.
“I really wanted to write songs in English and to include my Jewish identity, which is very important for me,” said Goldy, who first hit the public consciousness in 2019 when she reached the final of Ukraine’s The Voice with a rendition of her grandmother’s favourite Yiddish song Bei Mir Bist Du Shein.
“I was trying to get on the show three times, each time unsuccessfully, and on the third time when I sung in Yiddish, they shot a whole story about me, about my grandmother in Odessa, about my Jewish community,” Goldy said.
Since then, she has worn her Jewishness on her sleeve; it was never a question that Goldy’s songwriting would centre her heritage.
The new single ‘Shalom’ is, according to Goldy, “about love, unity and peace.”
“It's a very uplifting song because people are struggling right now, there’s a lot of pain,” she said. Having made Aliyah when the war in Ukraine began, spending several months living in Tel Aviv, Goldy drew from her happiest memories in Israel, her adopted home, as inspiration for ‘Shalom.’
"I don’t want to hide myself; I don’t want to hide my personality or where I’m from. I’m really proud of it,” she said.
Ukrainian Jewish singer GOLDY will debut her new single 'Shalom' at Ladbroke Hall on 30 March. (Photo: Vadim Yatsun)[Missing Credit]
Goldy, who moved to London two years ago to kickstart her career in the music industry, performed at the West End last year in an eponymous musical that chronicled her journey from Ukraine to Israel to the UK. After the one-night-only show, Goldy set about “trying to find my sound,” doubling down on her long-held dream of producing a solo album.
The new songs feature an eclectic mix of musical influences: “Jazz, R&B, Afro beats, soul melodies – and Yiddish lyrics.”
“I'm still discovering, I'm still writing new music, I'm still on the way,” said Goldy. “But I think I'm getting closer to what I feel inside of me – it's already much more ‘me’ than what it was a year ago.”
She added: "This show, these new songs – they're going to be such a big next chapter in my music career as a solo artist. And I'm happy to share our culture with different people, make it more open and visible for everyone, to show that we’re a people with so much love inside of us."
You can see Goldy Live at Ladbroke Hall on 30 March.
