Innovative alt-pop artist Noga Erez sits down with Atwood Magazine to discuss her satirical, punchy and damn infectious new album, ‘The Vandalist.’

Stream: ‘The Vandalist’ – Noga Erez

The album is called ‘The Vandalist,’ and it just keeps living up to its reputation. It’s just messy, and that’s what it is!

I first saw Noga Erez live in September 2022, opening for Florence and the Machine at Madison Square Garden.

Her little body and lithe movements, head bowed to her microphone under her many brunette buns, were mesmerizing against a simple black background and little to no set. Before long everyone was singing her syncopated hooks back to her on hits like “Views,” “End of the Road” and “Nails.”

That very day Erez had released a collaborative version of the latter song with Missy Elliott, and as Missy’s track played behind her she broke into such a wide, disbelieving smile that you could probably see her teeth shining from the rafters.

The Vandalist - Noga Erez — The Vandalist – Noga Erez

It was quite a different time for the Israeli artist and her collaborator/partner Ori Rousso, still riding the high of the acclaim and international reach of her sophomore album Kids. The last two years have been, as she describes it, “a real mess;” the result is this album, which she’s called “the swan song of a desperately sensitive human.” It’s her attempt to make sense of – but also to escape – “the devastating state of the world around me.”

Released September 20, 2024, The Vandalist is Erez’s major-label debut, her first output with Neon Gold/Atlantic Records.

If the satire-rich, catchy, attitude-packed record establishes her as a unique and powerful voice in alt-pop today, it will have done exactly what it should do.

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:: stream/purchase THE VANDALIST here ::

:: connect with Noga Erez here ::

A CONVERSATION WITH NOGA EREZ

Atwood Magazine: Let’s start at the end. On the last track of The Vandalist, you say, “We just created the best fucking album in the world.” Is it?

Noga Erez: (laughs) Well, I really just wanted this album to be a better album than my previous one. I had no other hopes for it. Kids is an album that changed my life and was so precisely what it was and where it was at the time, and I was just hoping to do just a little bit better this time. And I think we did that. The album is called The Vandalist, and it just keeps living up to its reputation. It’s just messy, and that’s what it is! I am so beyond excited for it to be out.

What made you select “Vandalist,” the first track on the album, as the title track?

Noga Erez: It was a song that we worked on with someone who became our good friend, Justin Raisen. We met with him in LA and we really liked his style, and we love the same music. He played this Busta Rhymes sample for us, and we kept playing that sample in the studio for hours. I was saying words over it, and then I said “vandalist,” which apparently is not a real word in English. You would say “vandal.” I think that’s what I like about it.

To me it represents being someone who is on one hand very sensitive to the world and what is happening with the world, but can also take an approach of rejecting how the world is, not accepting it, and creating something that is inspiring from it. I felt like it could be a good frame to put around the album.

The album is full of charged emotions – it makes you sad, it makes you rage and it can make you laugh out loud.

Noga Erez: Yes! The fact that the album made you laugh every now and then, that says to me we did a better job. I love it when music makes me laugh–I think laughter is one of the best raw responses to things. I’ve seen how humor, even in its most dark form, can really help people in rough times. And I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes in the past year, people in the worst situations that you can possibly imagine, and how those who used humor gained some moments of relief. So I really appreciate that.

“Dumb” has a bit of anger, but also self-awareness and tongue-in-cheekiness. Can you tell us more about that song?

Noga Erez: It’s about being self-aware, but also humorous about how I can consider myself woke and intelligent, but also that there’s something so childish about it. Like, I wish I was dumber so I wouldn’t have to see the world for what it is. And too much of that woke-ness can also be destructive, and prevent people from saying what they think.

We also had to make “Dumb” because many people thought my previous song “You So Done” was “You So Dumb,” so we needed them to help people understand that the first one is not what they think it is!

When you were writing this album, did you sit down and write in extended sessions, or did things come organically out in your life?

Noga Erez: With this album, we had five months in Madrid where we would wake up very early in the morning, go to the studio and work there. Being distant from home really helped, because it really focused us, and it was like going to work every day. There was something really nice about it. We would finish our day of work, and we would go and watch old, classic movies. That was how we inspired ourselves. And then in the morning, we would try and put that inspiration into songs.

Also, every time we got in a taxi, we would hear reggaetón. Then an Argentinian dude introduced me to the incredible work of Dillom, and I’m really happy it worked out [for the track “AyAyAy”]. He’s such a great and authentic rapper.

Did you watch The Godfather, and did it inspire your song “Godmother?”

Noga Erez: That one was a bit weird, because yeah, we watched all three Godfathers in Madrid. But then we started working on that song months later in New York, between two legs of a U.S. tour. We went to the studio and found this sample from an Indian movie, and sampled it, and only months later did we realize what we wanted to do with that song. It took a really long time, and I think that “Godmother” is probably the last song that we finished, so it was quite the process. Eden Ben Zaken is amazing on it, too.

The track “Hey, Hi” talks to a listener in the year 2040 when music is all made by machines. Do you think about AI and how it will affect music?

Noga Erez: I’ve been listening to music made entirely by artificial intelligence, and honestly I’ve listened to some really good music. It’s getting there. But I’m also saying, “good for you for making it [to 2040],” because the world is just going to be such a different place only 10 or 15 years from now. It won’t be the easiest place to live in, and there’s a lot of uncertainty about that. It was a moment to talk about two things that concern me, which is that computers will be able to replace me very soon and do a very good job, and that the world that I live in is probably not going to be what I know.

What are you most proud of about this album?

Noga Erez: I’m proud of how uncompromising it is. There were many, many times during the process of making the album that we could have made compromises when it comes to who we collaborated with, and things we were offered to do. And in the amount of time we invested, obviously in making good songs, but also in not doing the things that we already know work. Kids was a successful album, and coming back after that was tricky at first, but I think that we were very conscious of not trying to pull the same trick.

I hear congratulations are also in order?!

Noga Erez: Yes, I’m pregnant and about to have a baby in January. So we will do some small tours until I can’t fly anymore, then the next live things will probably be next summer. Until then we’ll be with our little girl. Our tiny girl Vandalist!

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