This is Naama’s debut recording and a fine collection of original tracks it is. I hate to quote other journalists because it means you didn’t make it up yourself and therefore can take no credit, but it was put best by a certain London entertainment mag when they said Naama’s songs had “striking melodies and strong lyrical content”. This about sums it up, with one glaring omission…. a voice most wannabe singers would literally kill for.

Think of a richer, warmer sounding Sarah Mclachlan and you’ll be close to the staggering vocal talent of Naama Hillman. Her voice suits both upbeat numbers and slower more ambient tracks perfectly, and her dense, sultry tones could almost melt chocolate (I love this poetic license stuff!). It’s one of those voices that you can just listen to for hours on end without a hint of tediousness or boredom, and for a recording artist that is a very nice tool to have.

The accompaniment on the record is first class, with quite a solid groove based rhythm section, both acoustic and electric guitars and piano all combining to bring a bunch of very well crafted tracks together, with each part doing just enough and the production getting the best out of them all. However, it’s the voice for me that soars head and shoulders above anything else. You need great musicianship and this record has it. You need great production and this record has it. You need well written, well structured material and this record has that, but the voice, majestical.

This has something for everyone. The rocked up ‘On and on’, the well paced ‘Pictures’ and the atmospheric ‘Crash’ can all be found on this one recording, along with a further eight tracks that are as well written and as well performed as those mentioned. This really is a class piece of work, and it’s these sorts of records from people who I have never heard before that make doing this so worthwhile. I wish Naama every success for the future and I will certainly hope that she gets the exposure she deserves, because this standard of material deserves it.

And I just cannot get over that voice!