Dotan’s career was accelerated by the song Home and now, nine years later, the number is on the rise again. That is because Home can be heard in the denouement of the Australian Netflix film True Spirit. Thanks to the film, his music has reached a new audience in other countries, Dotan tells NU.nl.
Note: This article may contain spoilers for the True Spirit movie.
A teenage girl sailing into Sydney Harbor with her hair in the wind after a grueling journey as Dotan sings: “The sound of the wind is whispering in your ear… we’re coming home now” (“The sound of the wind whispering in your ear… we’re coming home now”). It seems like Home was written precisely with this scene in mind. But the song had a whole life before it was used in the movie.
“When I received the application last year with a description of the scene, I first thought it was about Laura Dekker,” Dotan refers to the Dutch sailor who in 2012 was the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the world. True Spirit, which has been one of the most viewed films on Netflix for more than a week, is about sixteen-year-old sailor Jessica Watson, who circumnavigated the world alone in 210 days. Watson was two years ahead of Dekker, but did not meet all the requirements to also win the title of youngest person.
It is the first time that a song by the singer has been used in a film. Before this, his music could only be heard in television series. In the application for the use of a song it is not yet clear how prominent the music is in the scene or how long it can be heard. The 36-year-old artist himself only found out when he organized a movie night with friends in Los Angeles on the day that True Spirit came out.
“When the scene started I thought after thirty seconds: great, this is going well. But almost the entire song is in the scene and it is also the climax of the film. Very nice to see that.”
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“People think it’s a new single”
As soon as the film was out, reactions poured in at Dotan. “Messages came from all over the world and I see a lot of TikToks passing by with the song. A lot of people also think it’s a new song. It takes me back to nine years ago, when Home came out.”
In the past, Dotan’s music has therefore sometimes been used less prominently in series, with, for example, more dialogue through it. Such a scene therefore generates a lot less interest in his music than is currently the case thanks to True Spirit.
On Shazam, an app that lets you discover which artist the music you’re listening to, it said Home among the 100 most searched numbers worldwide. The song is also on the rise again on Spotify.
For Dotan, the experience with True Spirit just as special as the first time his music was used in Grey’s Anatomy. “That was always a big dream of mine. I also discovered so much music myself thanks to that series. I’m lucky that since I got my album 7 Layers released, people from the television and film industry managed to find my music.”
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‘Looking for a home is something universal’
Dotan likes to see that his song is constantly being given new life. “Home I don’t feel like I’m alone anymore. It has really started to mean something to many people and that is the best compliment you can get when you write a song. The feeling of looking for a place where you belong, that’s something very universal.”
“Home really changed my life almost ten years ago and has already been linked to quite a few things. Certainly in my own career, of course, when playing Pinkpop for the first time or closing my own show in the Ziggo Dome. But the number was also used for the return of the victims of MH17. Then it suddenly takes on a completely different meaning.”
The fact that the song now reaches new countries and a new audience gives the singer energy. “I’m now working on a new record in the studio and then it happens that you make twenty-hour days. Sometimes you think: what am I doing all this for? If something like that happens to your music, you know it again. “
And that new music is coming this year. “I’m going back to my roots, really back to the side of folk and singer-songwriter. I have the time for it and the space in my head. I want it all to be right.”
