Foreign Letters (2001)

The divine Miss Alberstein is an Israeli singer-songwriter who isn't hemmed in by stodgy notions of musical purity; Letters was produced by Ben Mink, who's worked with Barenaked Ladies and k.d. lang. Alberstein's quivering tenor is sublimely expressive, full of pathos when caressing a ballad, frisky when riding the crest of a traditional dance tune. Mink's smart contemporary arrangements give Alberstein a wide-enough berth to explore the political in the personal.