Ruptured Album Release // POSTCARDS // Ripe

March 6, 2025March 6, 2025NewsLeave a Comment

Releasing March 28, 2025 on Ruptured Records:

We are thrilled to announce Ripe, the long-awaited new album by Beirut’s shoegaze trio POSTCARDS — composed of lyricist, singer, and guitarist Julia Sabra, drummer Pascal Semerdjian, and guitarist/bassist Marwan Tohme.

Their 5th album Ripe (out March 28 via Ruptured and T3 Records) is both a natural evolution and a bold departure, channeling themes of anger, grief, and resilience.

Recorded live in a family home in the Lebanese mountains and produced by longtime collaborator Fadi Tabbal, the album captures the raw energy of their live shows while balancing intensity with expansive soundscapes.

First single “Dust Bunnies” is out now on Bandcamp and digital platforms. A laundry list of the frustrations of living in Lebanon, the track builds into a menacing, unsettling atmosphere that recalls PJ Harvey’s darker moments, culminating in Sabra belting out: “Our ancestors may have known / There’s nowhere left to go.”

Watch the video for “Dust Bunnies”, directed by Areej Mahmoud

All music composed and performed by Postcards: Julia Sabra, Pascal Semerdjian and Marwan Tohme. Lyrics by Julia Sabra.

Recorded and mixed by Fadi Tabbal in the Semerdjian family home in Ain Aar, and Tunefork Studios in Beirut. Produced by Fadi Tabbal and Postcards.

Mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market in Montreal.

Cover photo by Mohamad Abdouni. Design by Josette ZOoz Khalil.

Vinyl edition printed and pressed at Mother Tongue in Verona. Includes download card. Limited to 400 copies.

Ripe was partially funded by Institut français du Liban through MASAR, a French initiative supporting contemporary music in Lebanon.

RIPE: Listen/Order here

Photo by Nessim Stevenson

Ruptured News // Mayssa Jallad live on KEXP // December 2024

February 25, 2025February 25, 2025NewsLeave a Comment

Mayssa Jallad’s live set from Trans Musicales 2024 is now up on KEXP.

Recorded at L’Antipode on December 04, 2024, during the Trans Musicales de Rennes festival, the set features several excerpts from Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels.

With Julia Sabra (guitar, synth) and Pascal Semerdjian (drums), Mayssa delivers a striking performance, tracing key sites of the Lebanese Civil War and the ways physical spaces hold historical memory.

Watch the full set on KEXP at the link below.

Mayssa’s album Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, released by Ruptured and Six of Swords in March 2023, is still available on both labels’ Bandcamp pages.

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Press Review // Fadi Tabbal // I recognize you from my sketches

February 14, 2025May 5, 2025Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Fadi Tabbal’s I recognize you from my sketches, released by Ruptured in January 2025:

“Subsuming the sounds of others into his own, not in his typical bilateral mode of collaboration but through sampling, Tabbal seems to grapple with the binary between community and self. “I am all that is left,” he announces in the closing track. As the tidal synth pads wash over and retreat into tape hiss, the trace of the medium is the last to go. But this solitude is not an abandonment; empty tape always carries the potential to hold space for sounds yet unheard.” – James Gui, Pitchfork 7.5
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fadi-tabbal-i-recognize-you-from-my-sketches/

“10 tracks of somber ambient and rose-tinted noise—at times plaintive, at times anguished. I hear bits of Tim Hecker in the smoldering distortion crackling at the edges of his synths and guitars, and a Kranky-esque sensibility in general—in the mournful desert landscaping of “(keep pumping),” say, or the striated textures of “When we swam together,” translucent as quartz. Citing a lifetime of personal struggles—mental-health issues, loneliness, missed opportunities, the violence of Beirut itself—Tabbal calls the record “a breakup album between who we want to be and who we turned out to be.” That sounds like a bleak assessment, but by the end, his tough-love meditation yields something that sounds a lot like hope.” – Philip Sherburne, Futurism Restated
https://futurismrestated.substack.com/p/futurism-restated

“A lot seems to happen here in semi-secret detail, which is not congruent with the more obvious, superficial events and at the same time interacts with them in an interesting way. At points like this one has to mention Tabbal’s musician friends – Julia Sabra, Charbel Haber, Anthony Sahyoun, et al: people who have repeatedly played an important role in the artist’s life and work and whose samples and quotations beneath the surface also shape the sound of this album, which fits well with the personal theme, because every biography, every personal memory would not be what it is without the influence of others. The semi-transparency of the sounds creates a tension that is never fully resolved and also leaves open the question of whether absence really is the only thing that protects life.” – Uwe Schneider, African Paper
http://africanpaper.com/2025/02/08/

“Tabbal continues his long-standing conversation between self and community, exploring the ways in which personal and collective identities intersect through music.” – Cairo Scene
https://cairoscene.com/Noise/

“This latest release, with the lovely title, I recognize you from my sketches, sees Tabbal develop his core sound with even more emotional depth and explores the spaces between memory, identity and personal growth.” – Norman Records UK
https://www.normanrecords.com/records/

Adventures in Sound & Music x Resonance FM broadcast by Shane Woolman for The Wire Magazine (with a guest mix by Fadi Tabbal):
https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/fadi-tabbal-guest-mix

Pacific Notions x KEXP broadcast by Alex Ruder:
https://www.kexp.org/shows/pacific-notions/

Featured in Battiti’s broadcast “How We Roll” for RAI3:
https://www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2025/02/

Featured in Battiti’s broadcast “Rime Ignoranti” for RAI3:
https://www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2025/02/

Listen/Order

Ziad Nawfal Mix for Stegi Radio with guest SANDY CHAMOUN // 03 December 2024

January 10, 2025August 13, 2025Music ShowsLeave a Comment

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 mix by Lebanese musician SANDY CHAMOUN. Originally commissioned by Stegi Radio and produced by Onassis Stegi.

Sandy Chamoun is a multifaceted artist, singer, and actor based in Beirut. Her music draws from her ongoing interest in a wide range of subjects, including audio-visual arts, politics, satire, and folk traditions.

In 2022, Chamoun released her debut solo album, FATA17OCT. She is currently developing her second album, Sawt El Doumoue, commissioned by Mophradat. Beyond her solo work, she is a founding member of two notable musical groups: the political satire band The Great Departed and the free-rock, post-folk sextet SANAM. SANAM’s debut album, Aykathani Malakon, was released in June 2023 on the UK label Mais Um Discos to critical acclaim, followed by the live album Live at Cafe Oto a year later.

Chamoun has also delved into Arabic folk songs with social and political themes. She has performed the works of iconic figures like Sheikh Imam and Mona Meraashli at venues such as Metro Al-Madina in Beirut. As a performer, she has appeared in several acclaimed Lebanese theater productions, including Political Circus, Welada88, and Aghani Servicet (Taxi Songs). Her skills extend to sound design, with credits in short films such as There Is a Baba in Our House by Leil Zahra Mortada and Congress of Idling Persons by Bassem Saad.

TRACK LISTING:

– Anthony Sahyoun feat. Julia Sabra: Wasted Efforts
– Marc Codsi: Fugue 1
– Youmna Saba: Al Khayal
– Kamilya Jubran: Wahdi
– Diamanda Galas: Judgment Day
– Howie Lee: Bankers
– Katibeh Khamseh: Silat Rahem
– Arca: Prada/Rakata
– Malayeen: Omar
– Jerusalem in my Heart: 2asmar Sahar
– Mohamad Omran: Aslamtou Wajhi
– Saint Abdullah: Sounds from the Hosseinieh
– Abdullah Miniawy: Purple Feathers

Press Review // Julia Sabra // Natural History Museum

January 1, 2025May 5, 2025Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Julia Sabra’s Natural History Museum, released by Ruptured in November 2024:

“I loved Julia Sabra’s Natural History Museum—it was released at the end of the year and is quietly devastating. Her lyricism and sensitivity in timbre and harmony is akin for me to the great Linda Perhacs. The songs are intimate and infinite feeling at the same time—I love the raw and soft poetic settings of love and death. [Her] ruminations on the horrors of the war on Gaza, from the perspective of a Lebanese musician based in Beirut, are haunting. In particular, the ghostly organ and synth on the last track on the record, “Minor Detail”, evoke to me the frightening solemnity of death, and a feeling that the ground from underneath has been lifted and displaced.” – Julia Holter, The Fader Artist Picks 2024
https://www.thefader.com/2024/12/20/best-album-songs-2024-artist-picks

Listen/Order

Ziad Nawfal Mix for Stegi Radio // 05 November 2024

December 6, 2024January 8, 2025Music ShowsLeave a Comment

A monthly selection of alternative, ambient and experimental music from Lebanon and the MENA region, selected by music promoter and label owner Ziad Nawfal. Originally commissioned by Stegi Radio and produced by Onassis Stegi.

1. Azu Tiwaline – Long Hypnosis

2. Deena Abdelwahed – Complain

3. Use Knife – Coup d’état (Muqata’a مقاطعة Remix)

4. Nour Sokhon – The destruction and the rebuilding

5. Ralph Chbeir – Olive Trees

6. Kid Fourteen – Learning How to Die

7. SANAM – Mouathibatti (Live at Cafe Oto)

8. Nadah El Shazly – Mausoleum

9. Julia Sabra – Minor Detail

10. Fatima Al Qadiri – Medieval Femme

11. Los Panteros (Tony Elieh & Aya Metwalli) – Ya Tayren Tayer يا طيرٍ طاير

12. Yara Asmar – Cold Feet And Hot Air Balloons

Ruptured News // Mayssa Jallad announces French live dates // December 2024

November 18, 2024January 1, 2025NewsLeave a Comment

Mayssa Jallad has announced a handful of French dates in support of her album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels (#41 in The Wire’s Albums of the Year 2023). She will be accompanied on stage by Julia Sabra (Postcards, Snakeskin) and Pascal Semerdjian (Postcards, SANAM, Préfaces).

Dec. 05 – Les Champs Libres, Transmusicales de Rennes, Rennes (followed by a talk with Amani Semaan, director of Beirut & Beyond International Music Festival)
Dec. 06 – UBU Rennes, Transmusicales de Rennes, Rennes
Dec. 08 – Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
Dec. 13 – Théâtre du Bois de l’Aune, Aix en Provence

Supported by Al-MU7AFFIZ – Cultural Grant of Goethe Institut Lebanon

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Recommended reading:

https://www.radiofrance.fr/fip/mayssa-jallad-je-garde-toujours-espoir-pour-le-liban-8033117

https://www.telerama.fr/musique/la-libanaise-mayssa-jallad-aux-trans-musicales-en-parlant-de-mon-pays-je-me-suis-trouve-une-mission-7023345.php

https://rennes.maville.com/actu/actudet_-trans-musicales-de-rennes.-avec-sa-folk-melancolique-mayssa-jallad-evoque-l-histoire-du-liban-_dep-6585810_actu.Htm

https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/l-info-culturelle-reportages-enquetes-analyses/mayssa-jallad-musicienne-et-urbaniste-libanaise-comprendre-le-liban-a-travers-son-passe-7633523

https://www.liberation.fr/culture/musique/mayssa-jallad-cet-album-cest-une-reflexion-sur-la-violence-urbaine-20241201_Q7C65SEO6FCYFMSQKPL4OY6FOU/

https://www.lestrans.com/article/1-minute-avec-mayssa-jallad/

https://www.humanite.fr/culture-et-savoir/beyrouth/vous-navez-aucune-idee-de-lhorreur-reelle-sous-les-bombes-les-artistes-libanais-racontent-leur-desespoir

https://www.destimed.fr/biennale-daix-jusquau-14-decembre-innovations-creations-et-en-art-point-de-frontiere/

WATCH the video for “Markaz Azraq (December 6)”

Ruptured Album Release // JULIA SABRA // Natural History Museum

October 28, 2024March 6, 2025NewsLeave a Comment

Releasing November 1st, 2024 on Ruptured Records:

Natural History Museum is the first solo album by Julia Sabra, singer & lyricist with dreampop trio Postcards and electronic duo Snakeskin. Natural History Museum is an intimate collection of songs, fragile and luminous, written between 2020 and 2024.

In Julia’s words, “I wanted to capture these songs the way they were written, by keeping the rawness and fragility intact.
Fadi and I decided to record them live to tape, with no overdubs, barely any effect – with all the imperfections. Most of the tracks were done in one take only. Some were recorded in Tunefork Studios in Beirut, and some in the church I grew up going to every summer in Dhour Shweir. These songs would’ve probably stayed in my ‘songs in limbo’ folder on my laptop had it not been for Pascal and Fadi, who pushed me to release them. And for this I’m eternally grateful.”

WATCH the video for “Skyscape” [Directed by Camille Cabbabé]

First single “Skyscape” is currently streaming on Bandcamp and digital platforms. The album will be released in full on November 1st. It will be available as a digital album and a limited edition of 50 cassettes, designed by Josette Khalil in Beirut and printed & packaged in Canada.

Julia wrote Skyscape as part of an online songwriting workshop by Adrienne Lenker from alt-folk band Big Thief — it was an exercise to write a song based on Genesis Baez’s photo Skyscape. “All I could see was the shroud used to wrap the dead with, as it was the beginning of the war on Gaza. The song reimagines a gentler, more dignified goodbye to the dead.”

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: Listen/Order here

Ziad Nawfal Guest Mix for Radio Alhara // We Out Here x Worldwide FM // 13 June 2024

July 15, 2024October 28, 2025Music ShowsLeave a Comment

Ziad Nawfal contributed a 60mn mix to Radio Alhara’s takeover for UK online radio WORLDWIDE FM on Thursday 13 June 2024.

Full lineup: https://worldwidefm.net/episode/we-out-here-x-worldwide-fm-a-celebration-of-community-radio

Ziad’s track list:
“I was convinced that an atom of your love could keep me going”

1. Sandy Chamoun – Soukoun Mouwhesh
2. Charbel Haber & Sary Moussa – An Atom of Your Love
3. FRKTL – Háttatal
4. Nadah El Shazly – End Credit
5. Nancy Mounir – Gannentini (feat. Zaki Murad)
6. Farah Kaddour – Mad ou Jazr
7. Natik Awayez – Manbarani
8. Hassan Khan – Tabla Dubb No.15
9. Maurice Louca – Yara’ (Fire Flies)
10. Sanam – Aykathani Malakon (An Angel Woke Me)
11. Tasjiil Moujahed – Blue Mirror
12. Bana Haffar – Elemental
13. NÂR – MIMOUNE II
14. Marc Codsi – The Savior

Ruptured Music · Ziad Nawfal’s Guest Mix for Radio Alhara // Worldwide FM Takeover [June 2024]

Ziad Nawfal Guest Mix for Radio Alhara // Fadi Tabbal Showcase // 15 May 2024

June 20, 2024August 9, 2024Music ShowsLeave a Comment

Ziad Nawfal’s monthly broadcast for Radio Alhara in Bethlehem, Palestine — playing Lebanese musician & producer Fadi Tabbal’s latest album in full, along with a selection of some of his recent production work.

Track List:

FADI TABBAL — I RECOGNIZE YOU FROM MY SKETCHES
1. (keep beating)
2. Absence or death
3. Oh Heart!
4. Oh heart, are you burning
5. All those nights
6. You were right
7. (keep pumping)
8. When we swam together
9. (keep thumping)
10. I am all that is left
+
11. Snakeskin (Julia Sabra & Fadi Tabbal) – Snakeskin
12. Elyse Tabet – Sequel / live to tell (with Nadine Makarem)
13. Charbel Haber & Fadi Tabbal – La certitude de l’aube
14. Charbel Haber, Joseph Ghosn, Fadi Tabbal – In A Technicolor Dream, You and I Were Floating in The Caspian Sea
15. Mayssa Jallad – Holiday Inn March 21 to 29
16. Postcards – Coins (with Sary Moussa)