Close your eyes and picture Stephin Merritt backed by Tom Waits in a yarmulke. And that’s just the first number. That this buoyant celebration of the transcendence of rest is sung in Hebrew is immaterial as Eli Rosenblatt’s contemporary take on a traditional Jewish song contains all the ecstatic energy of the trembling believer—only with a sly wink. In other words: music that would’ve made you stay in shul. Fortunately for us, Rosenblatt has taken the shul and a whole lot more out into the world, producing an eclectic and timeless album that breathes new life into recognizable styles by returning, ironically, to their roots. With the easygoing charm of the great performer, so rare to capture in recording, Rosenblatt glides effortlessly from Hebrew and English tracks in and out of that rich, Stephin Merritt bass-baritone, to languid latin tunes with hearthrob vocals that blend seamlessly into the intoxicating percussion and rapturous horns. And just when you’re sure you’ve got him figured out, the album closes with a sweetly self-conscious ballad topped off with a gentle, almost humorous, falsetto “in your arms my dreams come true.” In "Shmuli’s Dream" when the King says to Shmuli, who’s tied to a chair, “The key to your safe or the end of my knife,” you get the feeling that the King will get the key and Shmuli the knife no matter what he chooses. When we leave Shmuli, choice unmade, he is barely able to make out the song of a distant bird. Which captures the essence of Eli Rosenblatt’s music. We’re bound to suffer in this life and will ultimately get the end of the knife no matter what choices we make. In the meantime, revel in the distant song of Eli Rosenblatt.