Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Breath of Musical Life February 25, 2008
Amaranth (Northern California)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
Israeli-French singer Yael Naim is a relative newcomer to the music scene. She got her big break with this song,"New Soul" through the Mac Book ad. The excerpt all about "learning to give and take" struck me as slightly sappy,especially the "I'm a new soul",and the vocals struck me as breathy. However,any music lover should know that first impressions aren't everything.
"New Soul" is a spiritual&uplifting song. It's about embracing life&being willing to make mistakes. "New Soul" is inspirational. It's a refreshing change from the current trends in music (hip-hop as well as the prefab pop of High School Musical) Yael Naim is a promising new talent. With its mixture of klezmer,folk rock&trip-hop,"New Soul" breathes new life into current pop.
a beautiful and refreshing debut from Yael Naim..... March 28, 2008
D. Pawl (Seattle)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
The beautiful and talented Yael Naim was born of Tunisian/Sephardi-Jewish heritage in Paris. This lovely woman's vocals are reminiscent, for me, of a luscious and warm ray of sun, shooting through an overcast sky. Her delicately accented English only adds to the charm of "New Soul" (best known as "The Mac Song" for the new Air model of laptop, marketed as one of the skinniest laptops ever--so slender that it can fit in a large manila envelope!). This tune is as much a throwback, for me, to another time (maybe 1970s folk/pop?) as it is appealing on a contemporary level. I could see Cat Stevens joining in with her on the infectious chorus, as well as the prolific and original Regina Spektor, accenting the verses with her unique brand of quirkiness. Naim truly transcends time, place, and ethnicity and makes us want to learn more about this "new soul" who has made "every possible mistake," because, truly, what could this woman ever do besides make us love her all the more?
 It's OK...I guess. March 26, 2008
Dri the Complex Lonely (USA)
6 out of 17 found this review helpful
I swear. Every time I heard this it didn't stay playing for long. On the tv is where I'd hear it. Or on that commercial. But that was short so...
But to get back to the actual song...
It just...irritated me for some reason.
But guess what? It's 4:18 AM and I'm TRYING to go to bed, but I was on a site, looking for this celebrity article and the scroll option was VERY long, showing that there were many celebrity articles to go through.
So to get to the point, here I am surfing to see what was so big about Usher (he's just trying to shut down his biggest fan site because the maker apparently doesn't approve of his new girl >_>;) and on the way down, songs accompanied me. Mostly songs I've never heard; cool songs.
Then this one popped up. I wanted it to end but I was still scrolling.
Anyway, it's different but her voice just sounds immature and like someone gave her a record deal because "this isn't what we're used to hearing in the States".
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she does have great talent I've yet to hear. I didn't venture out to find anymore of her material. But this song isn't bad. The production is alright and the horn is cool (for a little bit) but the "la la la la's" are droning and drowsiness-inducing.
Not much else to say. It's OK. Won't ever be on one of my mp3 players.
2.8 stars.
end note: cool, cool cover art though!
 A bit too simplistic and annoying May 26, 2008
John L. Berger
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Although Yael Naim's voice is strong and has a definite presence, this song feels more like a children's song applied to an adult voice.
The melody is nothing but a sine wave that scales up then down then up then down, over and over again. That alone is forgivable and this is certainly not the first song to do so; however, the "filler verses" are incredibly annoying with the even verses being nothing more than "la la la la la" for the equal duration of the odd verses. Was it that difficult to add lyrics in tune with the overall story? 1/2 of the song is nothing but "la la la la la la"!
Finally, the solitary trombone opposite her voice feels immensely out of place. Instead of adding a harmonious addition to her singing, the trombone makes the song feel like a bad attempt at New Orleans-style jazz. The combination just doesn't work out.
If this song was released in the late 1980s alongside with songs by groups such as 10,000 Maniacs, it would have been a smash hit on college campuses. But here in 2008 on traditional radio, it just doesn't work. Hopefully, her future works will have more depth and complexity than this song, enough to match her soft yet strong voice.
 A Song That Grows As A Novelty April 6, 2008
Flap Jackson (State Road, NC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
First off, I gave this song 4-stars because nobody else has yet done so. But anyways, when I first heard this song in full, I wasn't impressed, and the MacBook commercial seemed to get the best part of the song. I mean the song was original, different, and a throwback to who knows when, but it just wasn't that impressive. Well, I am now sad to say, my opinion hasn't changed much, however this is the type of song that grows on you. So at first you may hate it, then you'll think it's OK, then you'll like it, then you might love it.
The song has a real novel quality, in that it's a novelty. It's not going to win Grammy's, but it's fun. I really started loving it when me and my family found ourselves singing along with the 'la la la la' part. However, the song is great for the first two minutes or so, then it starts falling apart, going off in weird and strange directions. So like most Peter Jackson movies, this song needed to go back to the editing room. Sure 2-minutes isn't very long, but when your peak is a MacBook commercial, you can shorten the song a bit.
So overall, you might love it, you might hate it. It's a strange and different song that may be far from perfect, but it has some very good elements to it. And that might just make the song worth buying...
Real Score: 3.5
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