Singer Yael Naim finds inspiration in hard times

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim's self-titled second album, recently released in the United States, was written at a low point in her life after she became disillusioned with the music industry.

But instead of turning her back on commercial music, Naim decided to do it her own way. She took on a new band, including percussionist David Donatien, recorded the album entitled "Yael Naim" in her Paris apartment and agreed to let her song "New Soul" feature in Apple's MacBook Air laptop advertisement.

Naim, 30, spoke to Reuters about why she became disillusioned and how she turned herself around.

Q: You have said you were disappointed after your first album was recorded with EMI. What was that like and how did it change things for you?

A: "To doubt, to try things, to find your own voice, for me it is really important. And after being really disillusioned in this kind of way, I left everything. I was in a very hard period but it gave me a lot of inspiration to write.

"So we both (Naim and Donatien) didn't have any illusions about the writing thing anymore. And we were not signed yet, we did not have a label. And we did not have a lot of money so we did it just with a computer ... And in this way it really obligated us to really have music because it is not about a beautiful sound in a beautiful studio, it's not about having a hit."

Q: Why did you decide to go with both your first and second name for the album after just being known as Yael on your first album?

A: "They (EMI) want me to be just Yael. And after a few years it was like they took half of my energy, I really believe sometimes that a name can have an energy, so I decided to become Naim."