Yemenite-Israeli Singer Tair Haim Wants Her Upcoming Album to Inspire Hope, Peace, Love
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Tair Haim. Photo: Yarden Rokach
Yemenite -Israeli solo artist Tair Haim, formerly from the sister trio A-WA, told The Algemeiner she aims to inspire hope with her new music amid turmoil in Israel and around the world, while also paying homage to her Yemenite heritage.
Haim, 41, – the oldest of three sisters – is releasing her first solo album this summer that is inspired by her paternal Yemenite history and personal life, as well as changes and challenges across the globe. The album is four years in the making and the songs include lyrics in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
“My purpose is to bring hope. To connect the cultures. To say the peace will come with our women,” said the born and raised Israeli, who still lives in Israel with her family, including her 5- and 3-year-old sons. “Let’s remember the feminine energy. Let’s remember that we all have something in common. So, I feel like [the album] is even more relevant [now] than when I wrote it a few years ago … We need to go to a higher perspective and to dream of something better for us [and] even believe that we can create something new.”
“I care about putting hope in the world that is going through so much pain and chaos, with everything that we’re facing here in Israel and everywhere in the world today,” she added. “What the world needs now is more hope and love. And as a mother, from a mother’s perspective, I said I have to encourage people and generations to come that the world is going to a better place. So I decided to write about this, this salvation. To give hope … We’ve suffered enough from wars and male energy that is all about wars and hatred.”
Haim’s aspiration for positive change in the world comes at a time when Israel is facing renewed missile attacks from the Houthis, a Yemen-based, Iran-backed group that US President Donald Trump re-designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year, reversing a decision made by the Biden administration to remove them. For months, the Houthis have been relentlessly launching missiles and drones at Israel in support of the Hamas terrorist organization, which orchestrated the deadly massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas is also a US-designated terrorist group.
Haim and her two younger sisters entered the music scene in 2015 with their group A-WA (which is the Arabic word for “yes”). Their debut album was titled “Habib Galbi” (“Love of My Heart”) and the group’s next album was titled “Bayti Fi Rasi.” Haim told The Algemeiner that although she loved her time with A-WA, she wanted to release “more personal” music and “something new” as a solo artist.
The musician will also release a concept album this summer comprised of 10 songs. She remained tight-lipped about the name of the album and its exact release date, but said the songs are largely inspired by transformations in her personal life, especially her becoming a mother. One song in particular is a ballad about her labor experience. She sings about bringing new life into the world and compares it to working on new music and a new album. She jokingly told The Algemeiner, “Every good thing, every good idea should be cooking for a least nine months.”
Her upcoming album is also heavily inspired by “the changes and things that we are going through in the world, on a global scale.”
“In the album, I speak about what we’re going through now, and God is on our side, and that we’re going through major shifts and we will see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she explained. “I really care about putting out good vibes in the world, good messages that will create a better world for my kids and for the generations to come. And the world is going through a big transformation. I feel like the old patterns are falling apart, and something new is reborn.”
The first single from the as-of-yet untitled album is the catchy futuristic love song “YemeNight,” which was released in March. It’s a blended Yemenite Arabic and English upbeat track, and features lyrics from a traditional women’s Yemenite folk song about love that is passed down through generations. Haim’s grandmother used to sing it to her.
In the flirty song, Haim tells a “pretty boy” he is “so divine,” and that “love like this is hard to find. I got heaven on my mind. I can’t wait to call you mine.” She then calls on him to “fly high, from the city to the sky,” and to go on a ride on her “magic carpet,” which is a nod to 1959’s Operation Magic Carpet that brought Haim’s paternal grandparents to Israel from their home country of Yemen.”There was a lot of chaos with the Muslims there, so they had to run away from Yemen and they were so happy to finally come to Israel. But it was very tough for them,” Haim said. “They didn’t have the language, they had to start over. They came with the Magic Carpet in a survival mode. And when I talk about the magic carpet in my song, I talk about it in a much more empowering vibe. I call my love to come with me. I have this magic carpet but it’s something that I choose … In the song I’m longing for freedom, for expanding my consciousness. I am calling my love to come with me to like a new world. The whole song has this dreamy atmosphere of something I want for the future. A better future.”
“Everyday is a holiday, every night is YemeNight,” Haim sings in the song’s chorus. She said the line has become her motto in life.
“It means in times like this, when there are a lot of changes in the world and a lot of chaos, I feel like we all need something that reminds us to be more grateful for what we have,” the singer said. “‘Everyday is a holiday’ – I see it to mean that we should celebrate every day as a gift. A gift that we should be thankful for. And ‘every night is YemeNight’ is something very magical and mystical. It reminds me of Yemenite ceremonies, which I feel like I’m connected to with my ancestors. We are celebrating something that connects the past, present, and future. It also has a sense of humor. And I always want to give people a little bit of humor and hope.”
The second single from Haim’s upcoming album will be released this month, she told The Algemeiner.
Watch the music video for “YemeNight” in the video below.
