Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Apple's "New Soul" is Israeli

Heard the song called "New Soul" yet? Sure you have. You know, that insanely catchy, ubiquitous tune that accompanies the commercial for Apple's new Macbook Air, ultrathin laptop? Well, that song is sung by none other than French-Israeli chanteuse, Yael Naim.

A friend of mine sent me the "real" video for Naim's breakout hit a couple of weeks ago, before I witnessed it as the jingle for the TV spot. It's a nice, light piece of work.

It's Naim's first hit from her eponymous second album, whose North American release on March 18 came nearly half a year after it's release in Europe. Her first album, In a Man's Womb was released in 2001, but to mediocre reception.

This time around, Naim sings in Hebrew, French and English. Here's hoping this sophomore album gets more acclaim.

Here's an excerpt from a recent JTA article about her.

Naim was born in Paris to Tunisian immigrants in 1978 and moved to Israel at the age of 4. Not particularly religious, the family celebrated holidays and had big dinners on Friday nights. But her family was interested in the arts -- her father's Beatles records that diverted her interest from classical music -- and Naim served in the Israeli army for two years as a singer.


Here's Naim's video for "New Soul"



Oh what the heck, here's another one called "Puppet". It's an acoustic piece. I think it's a beautiful song.

2 comments:

Joe said...

I just finished listening to her album. You know it's funny every local indie singer I've interviewed dreams of having that "big break."
Well Yael has, hasn't she?
Funny thing is I don't think that New Soul is particularly indicative of her work. I actually think she's better than that. Her album is very jazzy--she goes well with a glass of wine, and maybe some Sophie Millman and Diana Krall.
She's also multi-lingual singing in English, French and Hebrew.

Blintzkrieg said...

I agree, Goyrocker. What really hooked me on her is that version of "Puppet" I put up. What a sweet voice.

Now where's that Shiraz...?