Put them together, and singer Yael Shoshana Cohen and multi-instrumentalist Gil Landau mount a charm offensive powerful enough to knock down some pretty sturdy defenses. Performing as Lola Marsh, the Israeli musicians distill their sound down to a small set of spare, ingratiating ingredients. In the case of "Wishing Girl," those building blocks are simple but potent: a whistled hook, Landau's briskly strummed ukulele and Cohen's voice, which dispenses sweetly plainspoken lines like, "You are my lonely star / And I'm, I'm your wishing girl."

The video for "Wishing Girl" has a stylish and playful aesthetic to match the song, though its plot is far more involved than the words might suggest. Writing via email, its director, Gal Muggia, describes the piece as "a story told through a circular frame. It's a 'boy meets girl' tale with a twist — seasoned with life, death, inter-dimensional travel and, of course, a hint of aliens."

"Wishing Girl" appears on Lola Marsh's forthcoming album, Remember Roses, out June 9 via Verve.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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