Hi everyone!
How are you all doing? There’s a nice mix here of new songs, old songs, upbeat and serious Elul songs. There’s some english, hebrew, yiddish, and even spannish!

I have added links to both this post and last month’s music post so you can easily listen/and or buy the songs!

1. Something Stronger by Aaron Holder: A lovely soft english song about recognizing “Something Stronger” and returning to our source. It’s one of the most mellow and most relaxing songs on this list, and the tone is pretty fit for Elul.
   
   
2. Tal Vaknin feat. Gad Elbaz – Emunah: A slow piano ridden ballad with strong vocals. The chorus is incredible, and the piano is beautiful!
   
   
3. Modeh Ani by Zayah: This song just makes me want to dance! I recently discovered it and it’s been on repeat ever since. I love the trumpets in that beat! It’s a tongue twister of a chorus though, I still can’t sing it fast enough!
   
   
4. Closer by BeINONI: His EP dropped several months ago and I’ve been obsessed with every single song. I love how the song opens up with a very chill electric guitar vibe mixed with some rap and jumps into heavy dubstep for the chorus. BeINONI has been a big supporter of my music gemach too. He is now fundraising money to relsease more songs, please consider donating: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-my-new-album-please#/
   
   
5. Zochreinu by The Chevra: This song is only on here on the merit of the tune and words. We used to sing this in highschool, with a million harmonies and it was beautiful. It’s such a moving great Elul song, I’ve been singing it non-stop all month.
   
   
6. The King is in the Field by Ari Lesser: This isn’t officially available (yet) but I’m obsessed. It’s so catchy and I feel like it just envelopes the essence of Elul in a loving sweet way. It’s tone is serious but upbeat. Ari  has a very unique vibe, like a mix of folk and slam poetry.
   
   
7. Viezke Lenagen by Ohad Moskowitz: This new song hits really hard for me. Music is a way I truly express myself, and this song is an expression of the power of that, pulling a parallel of Dovid Hamelech, someone I really connect with.
   
   
8. The Power is You by Chaya Kogan: This powerful hit song off of Chaya’s debut album is a beautiful mix of slow and fast, low and high. She mixes english with hebrew and speaks both so naturally. A song about frum feminism that is truly empowering.
   
   
9. 7 Veces by Atzmus: Atzmus is a favorite band of mine. Sure I have to use google translate to understand anything, but it’s all good. This song, called “7 times” comes from the posuk “Sheva Yipol Tzadik Vikam” and speaks about the power of getting up again. Very fitting for Elul. I also love heavy metal! You can follow along and see the english translation here.
   
   
10. Rosh Hashana Uman by Mendy Worch:, This new single for Rosh Hashana has clear vocals, simple words, and some basic guitar with a bit of dubstep – right up my alley. Some say “Nachnachs” are fanatic. I’m not sure if everything they do is right, but I do know that the perspective on Rosh Hashana about just connecting to Hashem and crowning him king is something every Jew should try.
    
    
11. Berditchever T’kiyas by Yoily Klein, Shaya Gross & Malchus Choir: This new yiddish single conveys Elul, Hashem, Love and all that stuff, stuff that overstep language barriers. It’s been on in my house all week!
    
    
12. The Power is in my Own Hands by Judaism alive: A unique folk song mixed with some electronic vocals. It’s a energetic song about going up while still watching others going down. The chorus is a powerful yet soft.
    
    
13. Change the World by KAVANA: A mellow soft pop song reminding us that we have opportunity to change the world every single day.
    
    
14. Fly Away by Nissim: I recently heard this song live at my best friend’s wedding which reminded me of my love for it. Nissim’s lyrics are so pure but are laced with so much more knowledge than that.
    
    
15. End of the Line by Yom Tov Glaser: Another song I heard live, who knew the Rabbi had a CD? I thought this song that profiles the history of the Jewish people, our real purpose, and what Judaism can give us versus how leaving it can destroy us.

What makes me love a song enough to get on my favorites list?
1. The genre. I love dubstep and heavy metal. I also really appreciate mixing genres, for instance I loveclassical dubstep the mix of classical music and dubstep. Mixing violin with dubstep is my favorite.

2. The beat. Having a unique beat, or fun instruments like trumpets or saxophones. Things that are upbeat and sound different. I don’t like generic pop beats though, I can tell those a mile away.

3. The words. I appreciate a good slam poem, and I can tell when something is written well. Songs that have rhymes like “Put your hands up in the air//Cuz we’re going somewhere” make me roll my eyes. Those are lyrics I wrote in a song in 3rd grade. Like c’mon.

4. The voice. I love clear vocals and strong voices. I know when someone has a talented voice that can reach high pitches and then drop to the lowest part in a split second. And yes, I know when there’s autotune usually, and it physically hurts me to listen to that.

I don’t simply love every dubstep song, or anything you throw a trumpet in. If the other parts of the song are awful I’m not going to like it. Although I don’t like generic pop beats or nasally voices, if a song is super fun and unique in another area I may still love it anyway.