Yael Naim

Yaël Naïm is a French-Israeli singer-songwriter born in Paris in 1978 to Jewish-Tunisian parents. She moves with her family to Ramat HaSharon in Israel at the age of four, where she learns Hebrew and studies piano. She later serves in the Israel Defence Forces as a soloist in the Israeli Air Force Orchestra.

Her early musical work includes a role in the stage musical Les Dix Commandements, and she records her first solo album, In A Man’s Womb, in 2001. She is also credited on Bruno Coulais’s song “You Disappear” for the film Harrison’s Flowers, directed by Elie Chouraqui. For her early releases, she is credited simply as Yaël.

Naïm later works with percussionist David Donatien, and the pair arrange and record thirteen songs over two years in her apartment in Paris. These recordings appear on her second album, Yael Naim, released in 2007 on Tôt Ou Tard. The album features songs in French, English and Hebrew, and it enters the French album chart at number 11. Her style is described as combining elements of folk and jazz, with a delicate, slightly husky vocal delivery.

Her song “New Soul” gains wide attention after appearing in the debut commercial for the MacBook Air in 2008, and it reaches number 2 on the iTunes Top 100 Downloaded Songs. Her discography in the input also lists In A Man’s Womb and Yael Naim.