Winter Family

Worldly weird wave

There are some makers who move effortlessly between different disciplines, fuse them together and – in the midst of all that shuffling – always retain their own identity. Ruth Rosenthal and Xavier Klaine are among these multi-talented, artistic nomads. The two met in Jaffa, Israel, over twenty years ago. Under the name Winter Family, they make ‘weird wave’ music and documentary theater.

So music, but also documentaries, and also theater. Their work is often informed by metal and baroque music and African-American culture. And while you’re at it, it’s best to master a whole arsenal of instruments. Rosenthal sings, plays drums, synthesizers, bells and whistles. Klaine plays piano, pipe organ, philicorda, harmonium, sitar and celesta and enjoys field recording, which gives the music a warm and authentic sound.

This fall, Winter Family released a new album: “On Beautiful Days,” on which they bring to life many stories. Those of life in Jerusalem, Paris and Lorraine; those of women, “witches” and conspiracies; those of capitalist and colonialist Europe; those of the blindness and violence of Israeli society; those of the occupation of Palestine; those of eternal lockdown and a lab rat – and maybe yours, too.