Yael Naim

At the beginning of this year, few people had heard of the French-Israeli singer Yael Naim (pronounced Yall Nah-yem). An Apple MacBook Air commercial changed all that.

The 29-year-old Parisian-born Israeli-raised singer/songwriter released her debut album 'In A Man's Womb' in 2001 through EMI. The album failed dismally and Naim spent a few years rediscovering her own voice.

In 2005 she met West Indian percussionist David Donatien and together they spent two and a half years writing and recording an album using a computer in Naim's Paris flat.

The result was the self-titled album — a collection of folksy jazzy songs in English, French and Hebrew. Among these songs is the catchy light-hearted ditty 'New Soul', which Apple picked for their MacBook Air commercial.

Like Leslie Feist's '1,2,3,4', which was used in the iPod nano advertisement, 'New Soul' became an almost instant hit. One of the most downloaded songs on the iTunes music store — nearing a million downloads — 'New Soul' also earned Naim the honour of being the first Israeli solo artist to have a top ten hit in the US.

So, behind the hype, what of the album? Well, 'New Soul' is something of an exception. Not because it is any better than the rest of the album, but rather because it is more popsy. The rest of the album has more gravitas, more longing, more…well…soul. And that's without understanding half the lyrics.

The concoction of English, French and Hebrew (sometimes mid-song) is surprisingly comfortable and lends diversity and richness to the album. The gruffness of the Hebrew is unexpectedly sexy, the French sublimely romantic and the English, familiar. Naim's voice is at times playful, at times aching, at times velvety, but always in control.

An interesting inclusion is a cover of Britney Spear's 'Toxic'. As incongruous as the two singers may seem, it works — considerably better than the original, in fact. Languid and eerie, it is carries with it the dark foreboding of the lyrics.

The contagious 'New Soul' opens with Naim singing the lines: 'I'm a new soul. I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take.' Give, indeed she has.