For those that have not yet heard, lauded for his energy, ideas and virtuosic chops, Rotem Sivan has racked up an impressive list of recordings as a leader, beginning with 2013’s Enchanted Sun and continuing with such stellar outings as 2014’s For Emotional Use Only, 2015’s A New Dance, 2017’s Antidote, 2018’s My Favorite Monster, 2019’s Same Way Home and 2021’s Far From Shore.

With Dream Louder, Sivan has realized his most potent and emotionally resonant project to date.

Along with the outstanding New Zealand-born bassist Hamish Smith and drumming phenom Miguel Russell, and featuring significant contributions from vocalist Sami Stevens and virtuoso whistler Luke Krafka, Sivan and his like-minded cohorts weave compelling rhythms and plaintive melodies on affecting numbers throughout this recording.

1. The Tree (For Hide)
2. Anneleen
3. Dragon
4. Luc
5. Blackbird
6. Lore Luv
7. The Hamish
8. West Virginia Mine Disaster
9. Mack The Knife
10. Magis

This quite stunningly opulent new recording opens on the veritably transcendental guitar work displayed within The Tree (For Hide) and the quietly melodic Anneleen and then brings us the more frenetically upbeat Dragon, the playful Luc and then we get the generously sculpted Blackbird.

Along next we get an almost countrified hipsway within Lore Luv and the jaunty melodies of The Hamish and they are in turn followed by the languishing beauty of West Virginia Mine Disaster, the album rounding out on the low slung, foot tapping of Mack The Knife, closing on the fully charged Magis.

“The Tree — For Hilde” (Lore’s mother), the light and lyrical “Anneleen” (Lore’s sister), the hard-hitting “Luc” (Lore’s father) and the fiery drum ’n’ bass-fueled blowing vehicle, “Dragon. “Lore Luv,” named for his wife, shifts from a sparse minor key ode to a grinding, distortion-laced bridge (“That’s for when she gets ‘hangry,’” he laughed. “She’s pretty good at that.”).

“Magis” (Anneleen’s husband) is a slamming trio number that has the leader unleashing some pyrotechnics on the fretboard. “I wrote different songs for different people in Lore’s family, so it was really meaningful for me,” Sivan explained. “I was just in Europe for a tour and I stayed with them for a week at their place in Belgium, and it was great to hang with them. They were all there in the audience for one of my concerts and they were just so happy to hear their songs.”

“The Hamish,” named for the big-toned bassist, is a loping, blues-tinged groover with some playful call-and-response between Sivan’s singing guitar lines and Stevens’ frisky wordless vocals. The program is filled out by three well-chosen covers — a masterful acoustic guitar rendering of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” a somber take on Jean Ritchie’s mournful Appalachian folk tune, “West Virginia Mine Disaster,” and a joyful interpretation of “Mack the Knife”(from Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht’s Three Penny Opera and later popularized by Louis Armstrong) that shifts from a distinctive “Poinciana” beat to mid-tempo swing section to joyful New Orleans second line parade beat, while showcasing Sivan’s signature chops along the way.

A labor of love that will pull at the heartstrings as it impresses guitar aficionados, Sivan’s Dream Louder is his crowning achievement to date.

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