Indie Light

The Portnoy Brothers are a British/Israeli Folk Rock sibling duo made up of Israel Portnoy & Mendy Portnoy. They come from a very musical family, which has informed their journey. I came across them recently when searching for Jewish musicians to spotlight and promote this Hanukkah. I discovered their version of ‘Adon Olam’ that they arranged in conjunction with the United Synagogue Schools Coronation Choir. The track itself is adapted from a Jewish hymn traditionally performed at the end of Shabbat services. So yeah, today as I said I’ll be reviewing their rendition of ‘Adon Olam’ which was released April 23rd 2023.

‘Adon Olam’ opens with smooth chords, creating a calm and serene melody upon which the choir of voices blend over well, likewise the Portnoy Brother’s more mature voices create an excellent addition to the melody. I’ll admit as an ex choir kid myself I have a soft spot for choir performances, the purity of dozens of young voices performing just for the love of it is nostalgic and incredibly sweet. I love this adaptation of a very classic hymnal tune. It remains respectful to its origins while adding to it and making something richer and more engaging. It’s also really rewarding to hear the performances done in the songs native hebrew, so often when songs are marketed to an English speaking market they are translated, for example one of my favourite songs ‘La Vie en rose’ by Édith Piaf and while I enjoy the translated version, especially as a native English speaker, something is lost in the translation from French. So again, yeah I’m glad the brothers and whomever else was involved in the production of this track kept it in Hebrew. I really enjoyed this warm and sweet performance, obviously with the addition of the choir it might not give you the clearest opinion of the Portnoy brothers own music but nonetheless it showed a lot about them, and their connection to their heritage and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for them in the future. 

So that’s what I thought of The Portnoy Brothers single ‘Adon Olam’ which if you’re interested you can check out over on Spotify. While you’re at it, make sure and support the band by following them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.