Hila Ruach says she was cast for years as the outsider, but her new album, "Shchor Zohar" ("Black Glow"), transforms private and collective darkness into something brighter. Released at the end of February, just before the latest war with Iran, the album arrived almost as if it had been written for a country repeatedly moving into bomb shelters. Ruach’s planned launch show at Barby in Jaffa was first postponed in March and then rescheduled for next Tuesday, when it sold out within two days; a second show is set for September 19.
In an interview with N12’s Amit Atias, published June 17, 2026, Ruach described the period of repeated escalations and shelter stays as surreal. Referring to the recent 17-hour escalation, she said neighbors consoled her in the morning because they were worried the Barby show would be canceled again. She added that although she expected disappointment, she instead received "love in quantities."
Ruach, 41, called the album her fourth solo record, after "Rofeah ba-Ma'arav," "Musika le-Perasumot," and BAT YAM. Before that, she fronted the band Klavei Ruach while studying at Rimon School of Music. She said the title track grew out of "Taviu Yoter," explaining, "I felt the existential, communal heart had turned into a kind of coal." She also said, "I was really afraid of what kind of person I was becoming" and that this record required more courage than her earlier work.
Ruach said she feels the album has brought new listeners, while longtime fans remain loyal. She described her artistic pace as slow and self-questioning, saying she "chips away at stone" and is drawn most to performing. On the title of her persona as an indie figure, she said it is outdated and too simplistic, because life is not cleanly black or white, but gray.
The interview also touched on politics, social media, and her acting work in the films "Halev" and "Mah Shelo Nisbari" and the series "Behastara." Ruach said she would have liked to ask Yitzhak Rabin what to do now, recalled that his assassination shattered the country’s sense of horizon, and joked that if the internet cannot be stopped, then "there has to be aliens."
