It has been a good year for Yael Naim. Her song “New Soul” was featured in the first MacBook Air commercials, which then propelled it to No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and No. 1 in the iTunes music store. Her self-titled album with percussionist David Donatien debuted at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, peaking at No. 50. But if you ask Naim, it has been not just one good year, but four.
“It all started four years ago when I met David [Donatien], and we began to work on this album in my apartment,” Naim said, who was born in Paris but grew up in Israel. The resulting album exhibits Naim’s own classical background (she fulfilled her time in the Israeli military as a soloist in the Israel Air Force Orchestra) and her love for the music of Joni Mitchell and groups like The Beatles.
Lyrically, Naim’s first album is personal, much of it written following a breakup with her Israeli boyfriend and her move back to Paris. What makes her music even more compelling, however, is that much of the album is bilingual.
Donatien encouraged her to write and sing in Hebrew, something she had no interest in doing before. Now, Naim believes that writing and singing in Hebrew allows her to make her music much more intimate and personal. For instance, Naim said “Paris,” the opening track on the album sung in Hebrew, “is about me arriving in Paris and a lot of great things happening to me, but I was not in my place yet.”
According to Naim, collaborating with Donatien is what really brings the album together.
“He comes from another musical world; he comes from jazz, from rhythm,” Naim said of the West Indian producer. For the album, Donatien both produced and created the musical arrangements. Together with Naim’s original music and lyrics, they create a unique mix of folk, jazz and traditional pop.
Despite Naim’s soulful sound and lyrics, much of her success is due to her appearance in the MacBook Air commercials. The album was already out in France before Apple decided to use it.
“We knew it would be a great window for people to hear about our work and get to know our music,” she said of the commercial. The success of the Apple commercial was self-evident fairly fast, and soon Naim was being called the new Feist, a Canadian artist who gained similar recognition following her own Apple commercial.
Some naysayers argue that commercializing music has the effect of stripping songs of their deeper meaning, but Naim has no qualms about her songs being used in the Mac advertisements.
“In the beginning, we were a bit worried that people would only know one song,” Naim said. “But after the commercial went out, we noticed that we were No. 1 in the downloads [on the iTunes Music store] and that people were curious to hear the rest of the album. Then we weren’t worrying anymore.”
Such commercials bring unknown artists from different musical backgrounds into the spotlight, giving them a chance to showcase their talent. Naim’s success proves the power of promotion.
Next up for Naim is an American tour that will take her cross-country throughout October, during which she will continue to promote her album. She stops in New York on Oct. 27 (Webster Hall, tickets are $25). After that, Naim said it’s “back to my place, and we can start cooking some music. It’s the most fun part.”
Jonathan Blistein is a contributing writer. E-mail him at music@nyunews.com.
Washington Square News > Arts > Music
Israeli songbird sings of lost love
Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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