When last seen here in January, Disappear Fear's Sonia Rutstein was putting the finishing touches on a new album which she and her drummer Laura Cerulli previewed for fans at the Beachland Tavern. Inspired by music she began writing the previous summer in a bomb shelter in Israel during the Israeli/Lebanon war, the new material, written in English, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic, was all about breaking down boundaries between people and learning to communicate. That album, titled Tango, has just hit the streets and Disappear Fear returns to the Beachland Tavern (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124) to offer a fuller taste of the new work.
"The CD just launched on Saturday in Baltimore," says Rutstein, calling from a friend's apartment in New York City. "All the musicians on the CD were there and my rabbi who used to be an opera singer in Canada before she became a reconstructionist rabbi. It was like Tango meets Sgt. Pepper." On the road, though, their approach to the material will be simpler. "It doesn't really change," she says. "That's the essence, the two of us. When it changes is when I add someone else. It's all based on rhythms and textures, with harmonies that kind of weave in and out of the songs." But she feels that she's trying to say so much with her songs now that it's necessary to give people more background than ever before.
She points to the track "Shorashim," saying, "I wrote that in Hebrew, looking at the border, where so much of the world is focused on conflict in the Middle East. I'm not carrying a sign or signing a petition but I'm trying to communicate with someone who has been called my enemy. It feels good to take positive action in that direction." Showtime is 9 p.m. Tickets: $10. - Anastasia Pantsios