NPR does a great disservice comparing Tunisian singer Emel’s voice to Björk. There’s absolutely no comparison, and I say this as someone who likes Björk’s work a lot. Emel is simply a better singer.
Her album, The Tunis Diaries, is something closer to the Portuguese band Madredeus, whose singer, Teresa Salgueiro, Emel bares some vocal resemblance to.
The production is sparse, and it works perfectly for this album. She also does a great rendition of David Bowie’s, The Man Who Sold The World, which you can hear below. Remarkable.