Yael Naim - Yael Naim

Yael Naim (2008, Warner) Yael Naim's first studio album. **1/2

Several female artists have had their breakthroughs due to their single being featured on a commercial (Sara Bareilles and Feist are just a few). Yael Naim is one of them. Her song "New Soul" is a catchy and bouncy simple piano ballad that grows to full orchestration as it reaches its peak, all the way assisted by Naim's accented lyrics. The song is not bad; it's not incredibly infectious and doesn't have the staying power of songs like "Love Song" and "1234," but then again, that may not have been the point. The album itself is a definitive hit-and-miss affair, with the misses being more notable than the hits. Naim sings in Hebrew (at least I think it is) occassionally, it doesn't sound pretty and doesn't fit the album. French has proven the only other language worthy on a label release. Not a terrible start, but not a great one, either.