Yara Asmar Synth Waltzes & Accordion Lame

"Acclaimed Lebanese artist Yara Asmar is set to mesmerize listeners once again with her new album, synth waltzes & accordion laments. This eagerly anticipated album, a collection of intimate recordings, provides another glimpse into Yara's world.

The album showcases her ability to channel raw emotion into her music. Vulnerable, intimate and moving these pieces were once again recorded at her home in Beirut using lo-fi recording processes. The sound palette here is richer than on her debut, with more focus on synth work and the warm drone of her grandmother's Hohner Marchesa accordion.

Here are Yara's own words about the album:

In March 2023, I went to the Black Forest in Germany for a residency. I arrived to the forest with my late grandmother’s accordion, and people were quick to inform me that this accordion had been built in Trossingen, only a few minutes away from where I was staying.

Apparently this was a town of farmers, and during the winter when the farms were dormant, people would turn to building clocks and accordions for the local factories in order to get through the season.

When I went to see the workshop, one of the men working there - pleased and surprised to see teta’s Hohner Marchesa - said something in German and rushed to the back of the shop. He came back out with a ledger and said ‘Libano’, pointing to the exact date this accordion was sent to Lebanon: the 21st of October, 1955, alongside 7 other accordions, two of which were green. One of these was my grandmother’s.

to my grandmother, queen of solitaire, who left me her green accordion; gone but never forgotten. to my grandfather and his garden in the middle of the city, and in spite of it. to those who left Beirut, one way or another, and to those who come back. to those who stay."

All music written, recorded and played by Yara Asmar at her home in Beirut, Lebanon. Poetry on 'Are these your hands?' by Majd Chidiac. Mastering by Marc Teare. Photography by Lynn Sheikh Moussa. This production was made possible through a grant from Culture Resource.