As the year winds down, we asked every artist whose music Ruptured released in 2025 to share the records that stayed closest to them over the past months.
Published here over the coming days, these end-of-season charts gather the albums that accompanied writing, touring, waiting, and living through it all.
The Dome Sessions emerged from the architectural and acoustic qualities of the dome designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1962 in Tripoli, Lebanon. Since 2010, Firas El Hallak has used this space as a site for sonic experiments, exploring the relationships between sound, space, and memory. The dome’s distinctive reverb and resonance have shaped a series of recordings that capture the characteristics of the structure while evoking the untold stories held within its walls.
What began as an individual pursuit evolved into a collective project. Artists and collaborators joined forces, contributing to a body of work that reflects the layered history and collective memory of the dome. Each piece resonates with the space’s acoustics, dissolving the boundaries between past and present, personal and communal.
These recordings extend beyond a musical album; they form part of the soundtrack for an upcoming film that examines the dome’s place in Tripoli’s cultural and historical fabric. The Dome Sessions therefore becomes an exploration of place, identity, and collective history through multiple senses.
At its core, the project highlights the power of collective action. It demonstrates how reclaiming spaces can breathe new life into the forgotten. By transforming the dome into a site of collaboration, the collective emphasizes the role of art in preserving and reinterpreting heritage. The Dome Sessions invites listeners to a shared experience of space through sound.
All tracks recorded on-site by Tunefork Studios in April 2023. All tracks mixed at Tunefork Studios by Anthony Sahyoun & Fadi Tabbal, except for Session 8 (mixed by Hadi Deaibess).
Music composed and performed by the artists, except for: Session 1 (Once I Entered a Garden) originally composed by Medhat Assem for Asmahan. Session 10 (Zahrat al-Mada’en) originally composed by the Rahbani Brothers for Fairuz.
Created and produced by Firas El Hallak. Co-produced by Anthony Tawil.
Audio captured by Neumann and supported by Eltek. Mastered by Cedrik Fermont at Syrphe, Berlin.
Album photography by Gabriel Ferneini. Artwork & design by Cynthia-ël Hasbani.
For two nights, members of Lebanese sextet SANAM and a lineup of collaborators will take the stage at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango for a series of solo and duo performances. While the band itself won’t be performing, these sets will highlight the individual artistry of its members alongside special guests, exploring free-rock, post-folk, and experimental sounds in an intimate setting.
Hotel2Tango – 110 Van Horne, Montreal QC Monday, June 23 & Tuesday, June 24 Doors 8 PM | Music 8:30 PM Entrance $20
Sandy Chamoun (Solo)
A solo set focused on vocal performance, blending tradition and contemporary experimentation.
Farah Kaddour (Solo)
A performance rooted in folk and classical Arabic music, showcasing her mastery of the buzuq.
Radwan Ghazi Moumneh & Anthony Sahyoun (Duo)
Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, co-owner of Hotel2Tango, joins Anthony Sahyoun for an exploratory duo performance.
NIGHT 2 – TUESDAY, JUNE 24
Antonio Hajj, Jessica Moss & Pascal Semerdjian (Trio)
SANAM’s rhythm section—Antonio Hajj and Pascal Semerdjian—teams up with avant-garde violinist Jessica Moss for a unique collaboration.
Farah Kaddour & Marwan Tohme (Duo – Cassette Album Launch)
A special set celebrating the release of Farah and Marwan’s new cassette on Ruptured Records, offering an exclusive first listen.
Anthony Sahyoun (Solo)
A closing performance featuring a key voice of Beirut’s experimental music scene.
A monthly selection of alternative, ambient and experimental music from Lebanon and the MENA region, selected by music promoter and label owner Ziad Nawfal – this broadcast features a guest mix by Lebanese musician JULIA SABRA, from dreampop trio Postcards and ambient duo Snakeskin. This broadcast was commissioned and produced by Onassis Cultural Center, and presented for the first time in the frame of Stegi Radio.
Julia Sabra is a Lebanese musician, songwriter, composer and sound engineer. She co-founded Postcards in 2013, a dream pop/shoegaze trio, and is the band’s lead singer, lyricist, co-composer and multi-instrumentalist. Postcards have released two EPs and four albums and their fifth is set for release in the fall of 2024. The trio has been regularly touring Europe and the Middle East since 2015.
Sabra is one half of Snakeskin, an ambient/electronic duo with long-time collaborator Fadi Tabbal. They released their debut self-titled album in October 2022. She is also the manager of Tunefork Studios since 2017, where she works as composer, VO artist and live sound engineer.
Charbel Haber & Fadi Tabbal- Enfin La Nuit
Postcards- Fall From Grace (unreleased)
Marc Codsi – The Wait
Interbellum – Flotsam
Mayssa Jallad – Kharita
Marwan Tohme – To Begin Again (unreleased)
Yara Asmar – Come Back Later
Fadi Tabbal – You Were Right (unreleased)
Anthony Sahyoun – Untitled (unreleased)
Snakeskin – In Our Garden
Farah Kaddour – Khuzama (unreleased)
Youmna Saba – Akaleel
Charif Megarbane – Souk el Ahad
Sary Moussa & Charbel Haber – An Atom of Your Love
Releasing November 3rd, 2023 – a joint release by Ruptured and Six of Swords
Lebanese singer/songwriter Mayssa Jallad’s first solo album. A poetic reflection on Beirut’s War of the Hotels, one of the bloodiest events of Lebanon’s Civil War.
The vinyl edition of ‘Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels’ is co-released by Beirut-based label Ruptured and UK newcomer Six of Swords. It is pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies, with a limited D2C edition containing download coupon and a full-colour, double-sided 34 x 68cm art print on 150gsm wood-free paper with map, 3D diagrams and timeline depicting the historical events of the battle.
Mayssa will play a short European tour in November, including performances at Oslo World in Sweden and Le Guess Who? in The Netherlands.
“In the end, the album, like the city on which it is based, feels like an infinite loop of history, relayed through the brave yet saintly voice of an artist who has taken the task of documenting the past through music.” – Christina Hazboun, Bandcamp daily.bandcamp.com/features/mayssa-jallad-marjaa-battle-of-the-hotels-interview
“It’s an album with everything; vital history, experimental melodicism, inventive structures, mountains of emotion, and Jallad’s stunning voice. There is so much to learn, so much to hear.” – Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis
“In an overwhelmingly creative and critical act, Mayssa Jallad turns the destruction of the Lebanese Civil War into a stunning, two-sided album driven by poetic songwriting mixed with historical narration, lush strings and synths, gentle drones, and her incredible vocal prowess.” – Maha El-Nabawy, SceneNoise
Releasing March 3rd, 2023 on Ruptured Records: Lebanese singer/songwriter Mayssa Jallad’s first solo album. A poetic reflection on Beirut’s War of the Hotels, one of the bloodiest events of Lebanon’s Civil War.
“Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels” is a concept album born of the idea of merging singer/songwriter Mayssa Jallad’s two vocations: music and urban research/architectural history. Written in collaboration with producer Fadi Tabbal, the music builds upon Tabbal’s spatial approach to sound and Jallad’s research on Beirut’s Hotel District.
The album is a reference to Jallad’s Historic Preservation master’s thesis, in which she detailed the history of the “Battle of the Hotels”, a 5-months battle that took place in Beirut at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War, from October 22nd, 1975 to March 29th, 1976.
Jallad saw architecture as a main protagonist of the battle, as she discovered it was the first high rise urban battle in the world. The close of the battle resulted in the 15-year Green Line, an urban rift which split Beirut into “East and West”, restricting movement and communication and creating a violent divide that still resonates today.
“Marjaa” comprises two parts. Part A: Dahaliz, is a stroll in the city, where Jallad tries (and fails) to follow an old map. Musician Youmna Saba is a companion in this journey of remembering the once winding corridors (“Dahaliz”) of the city, destroyed by new developments since the 1960s. Empty skyscrapers propel her onto a past filled with the violence of snipers, and a present filled with the glamorous injustice of empty luxury real estate endorsed by powerful warlords-turned-politicians.
In Part B: Maaraka, Jallad inhabits the building of the Battle of the Hotels, as its events unfold. She calls the fighting militias the Blues and Reds, respectively the Lebanese Front (Christian Nationalists) and the Lebanese National Movement (Pro-Palestinian leftists), leveling the playing field, and drawing a map of the battle through songwriting. Sary Moussa produces the conclusion of the battle in “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)”, which ends with the ultimate severance of the city of Beirut.
The music caters to post-war youth who have never been taught this difficult history. Once we consider the “Battle of the Hotels” as our common heritage, it provides an opportunity to teach the value of civil peace. It is also a call to protest for the renewal, rather than the recycling of the political class that has once destroyed the country and holds us, to this day, hostage of its violence.
Featuring Youmna Saba, Marwan Tohme, Pascal Semerdjian, Julia Sabra, Farah Kaddour, Sary Moussa, Yara Asmar and Fadi Tabbal.
Available as a digital album and limited edition vinyl LP (in collaboration with Six of Swords in the UK).
Ruptured Music 