2008: Safa Zara
Having yet about 70 songs unpublished, Aya Korem released her second album, Safa Zara (שפה זרה, "Foreign Language"), on 28 February 2008. The album included songs she wrote at the age of 26–27 and has jazz, cabaret and country influences. The lyrics deal with a wider range of subjects than those of the first album. The first single, HaSof shel HaSipur (הסוף של הסיפור, "The End of the Story"), is a sad love song co-written by Aya Korem and Eric Berman. The single was released in December 2007. In February 2008 Al Ta'amini (אל תאמיני, "Do Not Believe") was released. The lyrics of Al Ta'amini talk about the fleeting condition of a celebrity in the popular culture. "And then somebody will say: 'your time is over, and now let someone else take the stage'", wrote Korem. The song was inspired by Janis Ian's song Stars, which is even credited in the liner notes of the album. Two more songs from this album have been released as singles: Otobiografia (אוטוביוגרפיה, "Autobiography") and Akhshav Kazot (עכשיו כזאת, "Now like This").
The lyrics of Zahav Shahor (זהב שחור, "Black Gold") are a female answer to the classic song Atur Mitzkhekh written by Yoni Rechter. Korem's producer Ori Zakh sent Aya's lyrics to Rechter, and Rechter agreed to write music for the song. In 2009 Aya Korem also recorded the original song Atur Mitzkhekh for the 70th birthday of its original singer, Arik Einstein. The song Tania (טניה) is inspired by Louis-Ferdinand Céline's novel Journey to the End of the Night. Most of the songs are written by Korem herself also in her second album. The exceptions are Ruhot HaMa'arav (רוחות המערב, "Western Winds") by Yonatan Gotfeld, Akhshav Kazot with music by Ilay Botner, "HaSof shel HaSipur" and "Zahav Shahor".
Both albums were recorded with the Anana label of the Hed Arzi Music corporation.
In 2008 Korem recorded a cover for Eran Tzur's song Erev Bet Kislev (ערב ב' כסלו, "The 2nd of Kislev Eve") for the Hebrew Labor 2 collection of cover versions dedicated to the 60th anniversary of independence. Korem also musically produced the song. She also performed three of her songs for the Pizmon Hozer project, dedicated to the birthday of Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier, and organized by the NRG website operated by Ma'ariv.
Korem kept performing after the release of Safa Zara. At the performances she introduced the audience to a new political protest song, Ha'Isha im HaSakit (האישה עם השקית, "The Woman with the Bag").
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