Description
With her debut solo album Ya Nass (2013), Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan (Hailed as Arabic musics modern voice by New York Times), introduced her personal, modern take on Arabic pop. In Al Jamilat (The Beautiful Ones), she pursues her musical exploration, while taking a look at the mutations at work within the Arab world.
While Yasmines vocals are definitely connected to traditions of Arabic music (to which she takes an unconventional and fresh approach), the structures and arrangements of the songs are very remote from its codes, and take in elements from contemporary Western electronic, pop and folk music.
Her unique vision is fully realised in this album, which she jointly produced with UK producers Luke Smith (Foals, Depeche Mode, Lily Allen) and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Carl Barât), and recorded with contributions from NY musicians Shahzad Ismaily (Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Marc Ribot) and Sonic Youths Steve Shelley.
The success of the Ya Nass album saw Yasmines profile rise greatly in Europe and America. In the Middle East shes enjoyed iconic status since the days of Soapkills, one of the first indie/electronic bands in the area. Shes performed prestigious shows on four continents and appeared in the Jim Jarmusch movie Only Lovers Left Alive, where shes featured singing, onscreen, in one of the films most memorable scenes.
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