Ruptured Vinyl, CD & Tape 4 Items

With I recognize you from my sketches, Tabbal further refines his signature sound, delving into the spaces between memory, identity, and personal growth. This album is a meditation on the emotional disconnect between who we aspire to be and the person we ultimately become, captured through a minimalist and emotionally charged sonic landscape

“This Beirut trio’s second album is a solid set of shoegazerish dream-pop, combining fuzzy, occasionally squalling guitars with ethereal vocals and dreamy melodies.” — Kexp // Latest by Lebanese shoegaze/grunge trio Postcards, is their most powerful and defiant work to date, recorded at the height of Lebanon's socioeconomic collapse. Postcards is a shoegaze/grunge trio from Beirut, Lebanon, composed of lyricist, singer, and guitarist Julia Sabra, drummer Pascal Semerdjian, and guitarist/bassist Marwan Tohme. Formed in 2012, the band has grown into Lebanon’s longest-lasting alternative musical group, carving out a distinct place in the global indie music scene. With a catalog spanning dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, and noise, Postcards has consistently redefined their sound over four critically acclaimed albums. Now, they return with their most powerful and defiant work to date: Ripe. As the world around them crumbles, Postcards transmute their rage into something transcendental. Their fifth album, Ripe, is both a natural evolution and a bold departure. The record channels themes of anger, grief, and resilience, capturing the trio at their most ferocious, vulnerable, and assured. Recorded live in a family home in the Lebanese mountains, Ripe brings the energy of their live shows into the studio. Produced by longtime collaborator Fadi Tabbal, the album finds a delicate balance between raw intensity and lush soundscapes, creating a visceral and expansive listening experience. Lead single "Dust Bunnies" recalls PJ Harvey’s darker moments, while tracks like "Ruins" and "Poison" reveal hypnotic grooves that explore the fragile spaces between hope and despair. Out in Germany / Austria / Switzerland on T3 Records.

On Ghadr, Sandy Chamoun, Anthony Sahyoun and Jad Atoui play with chaos. Built on group improvisation, surges of coruscating electronics and distortion meld with vocals that, while stemming from a background in classical Arabic singing, seek to reroute tradition. “We explore rhythmic structures that don’t have specific time signatures,” says Atoui about his and Sahyoun’s use of synthesis to embrace the tension between order and chaos. “Sandy’s approach to singing isn’t necessarily very rigid either. We felt a common inspiration.” The album, whose title imperfectly translates to ‘Treachery’, began on a residency in Switzerland while the trio were touring Europe (Chamoun solo, Atoui and Sahyoun as their duo NP). It was later finished in their home city of Beirut. The five tracks are built on vibrant circuits of guitar and modular synthesis, the former often acting as a trigger for the latter’s volatile output. Chamoun’s vocals blend her background in classical Arabic music with free-singing, using tradition as a foundation for exploration rather than standards to follow. Apart from “Hayawanon Ghader (treacherous animal)”, all the songs’ lyrics pull from the archive. Opener “Taha Layl” interprets a Bedouin folk song. “Bihali” is based on a tenth century poem by Abou Firas Al-Hamdani. “Al Moulatham” quotes an Instagram post by Yousef Al-Domouky about the war in Gaza. “Al-Samaa” uses a text from contemporary Lebanese poet Paul Chaoul.“I’m working with my references, and with the music,” explains Chamoun. “It’s a playful place with my history and now.” About the album’s title, Chamoun explains: “On this planet, the only thing that’s happening now is treachery. It’s the headline of our days.” Terror in Gaza, its shockwaves through the Middle-East and its place in longer histories loom over the record. However, while Ghadr reflects the present moment, it isn’t consumed by it. The trio agree the album reflects tenderness as much as anger. It’s audible in the effortless swings between abstract and soaring. The way Chamoun’s lyrics put ninth century odes to a bird and ancient Bedouin love songs next to personal reflections by Al-Domouky or Chaoul on real world tragedies. Sonically and lyrically Ghadr is music of possibility and potential. The five tracks travel through unbounded terrain rather than along fixed paths. “I don’t like to pull the listener in one direction,” Chamoun continues. “You need to play with your imagination and not stick to one story and one meaning.” While the record reflects their state of mind as residents of Lebanon, and the uncertainty that entails, Sahyoun suggests they’re striving to reach beyond it. “We try to access parts of our subconscious and see what dimensions it has outside of what we’re witnessing day to day. When we play, there’s a rhythm between the three of us. We feel each other sway,” Ghadr is the first release under the name Chamoun/Sahyoun/Atoui, but the trio’s connection is deeply rooted. Sahyoun and Chamoun are members of ecstatic rock collective Sanam. Atoui and Sahyoun’s explorations of synthesis, solo and as NP, are long-running. On Ghadr these histories form something new. A charged record which faces the world as it is while offering glimpses of something else. (Written by Daryl Worthington)