Yael Naim

According to lore, it was Steve Jobs himself who chose "New Soul" from Yael Naim's self-titled sophomore LP for a ubiquitous Apple laptop commercial, thus handing the French-Israeli singer songwriter an instant, international audience. Born in Paris, Naim spent most of her childhood in Israel where she began studies of the piano at the age of 10 and performed with a group called the Anti Collision. She signed her first contract with EMI in 2000 and made her first solo record, In A Man's Womb, in 2001. Some five years later she set to work with multi-instrumentalist David Donatien on the self-titled follow up, recording it mostly in a Paris apartment. A blend of folk, pop and jazz elements were the backdrop for her songs sung in French, English and Hebrew, with the resulting album being released on French indie label Tot ou Tard. The record received quiet praise after its 2007 release, but entered the Billboard Top 10 shortly after its inclusion in the aforementioned commercial.