Press Review // Postcards // Ripe

May 5, 2025May 6, 2025Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Ripe, the latest album by Lebanese shoegaze trio Postcards, released by Ruptured in April 2025:

“On a foundation of what many would consider shoegaze and dream-pop, while the band has moved sonically with each release, the Postcards remit has been held together by the emotive storytelling of Sabra, and on Ripe it reaches a crescendo. Fraught with tension and the chaos that overshadows everyday life in Lebanon, Postcards frame it through song; and while you can certainly draw a line to this in previous works, on Ripe the band are at their all-encompassing best, reaching new levels.” – Simon Kirk, Sun-13 https://sun-13.com/2025/03/27/the-long-road-in-conversation-with-postcards-julia-sabra-pascal-semerdjian/#more-27934

“If previous Postcards albums were drenched in reverb-soaked melancholy, Ripe is what happens when that sadness curdles into fury. It is an album of contradictions: lush but raw, defiant yet wounded, intimate while also sounding like the collapse of a city.” – Chain DLK
https://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/12752

“Postcards channel this violence into their music, crafting dreamlike landscapes where guitars cut through the canvas like blades. Ripe is born from pain and uncertainty, an album of defiance that blends brutality and vulnerability, noise and melody. Like a lighthouse in the fog, it searches (in vain?) for a possible way out.” – Ondarock
https://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2025-postcards-ripe.htm

“This is the soundtrack of burning youth, cigarettes over cityscapes, and late-night existential spirals. With the current situation in Gaza and Lebanon, the album takes on an even deeper resonance, its rawness mirroring the heartbreak, rage, and resilience of a region constantly on edge.” – Scene Noise
https://scenenoise.com/New-Music/Postcards-Ripe-Is-a-Love-Hate-Letter-to-Beirut

“A project of sharp contrasts and blinding sweetness, Postcards manage to sound both angelic and nervy, shifting seamlessly between storm-like intensity and moments of pure, hushed beauty (…) Ripe is a rare surprise — an album that sustains curiosity with substance, style, and flashes of emotional clarity across its ten tracks.” – Sodapop
https://www.sodapop.it/phnx/postcards-ripe-ruptured-t3-2025/

“A darker, more punk-infused take on shoegaze.” – CDM
https://cdm.link/postcards-from-lebanon-telling-the-worlds-story/

“Until now, the band was known for its mesmerizing blend of dreampop and shoegaze, carried by Julia Sabra’s airy voice floating over layers of synths. But with *Ripe*, the guitars storm into the space with fury. The trio’s sound becomes sharper, more cutting. The drums gallop, Marwan Tohme’s bass rumbles, and from this turmoil emerges a refrain that haunts the album’s opening track, ‘I Stand Corrected,’ echoing like a mantra throughout the record: ‘Destroy, rebuild, you know the drill.” – Djolo Cultures d’Afrique https://djolo.net/ripe-5eme-album-postcards-ne-dans-colere/

“A recent batch of new material from the Beirut label Ruptured just arrived at the shop. And though it is a challenge to single out just one release, my heart keeps returning to the fifth album from shoegaze trio Postcards. Ripe fills each gushing moment of this album with devastating imagery of smoldering buildings, poisoned blood, and barren shorelines. A challenging, shattering, necessary listen.” – Robert Ham, For The Record https://www.wweek.com/music/2025/04/22/for-the-record/

“On previous releases, we heard echoes of various influences, but on Ripe, the band’s own voice comes through more clearly—the album’s title couldn’t have been better chosen. Ripe is a beautifully balanced record with a sound that leaves a lasting impression. Singer/guitarist Julia Sabra soothes at times with her warm, gentle voice, but she can also unleash its full power, perfectly complementing the driving rhythm section of drummer Pascal Semerdjian and bassist/guitarist Marwan Tohme.” – Luminous Dash https://luminousdash.be/reviews/postcards-ripe-ruptured-t3-records/#google_vignette

Adventures in Sound & Music x Resonance FM broadcast by Shane Woolman for The Wire Magazine: https://shanewoolman.uk/ana-lua-caiano-guest-mix/

Utility Fog broadcast on FBi Radio by Peter Hollo: https://www.fbi.radio/programs/utility-fog/episodes/utility-fog-16th-march-2025

Featured in Premonition broadcast: https://www.premo.fr/transmission/Deux-Cent-Trente-Septieme-Tentative/237

Listen/Order

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)

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)”

Ziad Nawfal Mix for Stegi Radio // 01 October 2024

November 1, 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. Marmalsana [Burkhard Beins, Tony Elieh & Maurice Louca] – Inundo

2. Youmna Saba – Akaleel

3. Yara Asmar – Are These Your Hands? Would You Like Them Back? (With Majd Chidiac)

4. Marmalsana [Burkhard Beins, Tony Elieh & Maurice Louca] – Alveno

5. Elyse Tabet [with Pascal Semerdjian & Yara Asmar] – Bright Bells (Bana Haffar Remix)

6. Liliane Chlela – Bza2

7. Safa – Grounds

8. Nstant [Stephanie Merchak & Nour Sokhon] – Floating Like Particles In The Air

9. Sote – Kangaroo Court

10. Anthony Sahyoun – Khifat Al-Atraf (with Firas al Hallak)

11. Munma – Le garde du coeur

12. Mazen El Sayed & Jawad Nawfal – Pastless

13. Shatr Collective – Kafas

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

Ruptured News // Mayssa Jallad Live in Europe // November 2023

October 20, 2023June 7, 2024News1 Comment

Mayssa Jallad will play a short European tour in November 2023, in support of her latest album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels.

Confirmed performances include Oslo World Festival in Oslo, Norway and Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
She will be accompanied by Julia Sabra (Snakeskin, Postcards) and Pascal Semerdjian (Postcards, Sanam).

Head over to Mayssa’s website for more info.

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Portrait of Mayssa taken in Beirut by Mohamad Al-Rifai

Ruptured Album Release // MAYSSA JALLAD // Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels [VINYL EDITION]

October 5, 2023October 9, 2023NewsLeave a Comment

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

releases November 03, 2023

Listen/Order (Ruptured) HERE

Listen/Order (Six of Swords) HERE

Ziad Nawfal Guest Mix for Radio Alhara // 19 July 2023

July 31, 2023August 11, 2023Music ShowsLeave a Comment

Ziad Nawfal’s monthly broadcast for Radio Alhara in Bethlehem, Palestine – showcasing two albums released in digital format by Ruptured in 2022/2023:

KAPUT by The Art of Boo
+
LOW TOMS BRIGHT BELLS AND DARKEST SPELLS by Elyse Tabet

Track List

THE ART OF BOO – Kaput
1. Intro
2. Boom Kaboom
3. Entry
4. Exit
5. Dear Anna
6. Promenade
7. Dolor
8. Dawn
9. Exodus

ELYSE TABET with Pascal Semerdjian & Yara Asmar – Low Toms Bright Bells and Darkest Spells
10. Low Toms
11. Bright Bells
12. Bright Bells (Bana Haffar Remix)
13. Low Toms Through the Paper Shredder
14. And Darkest Spells

Ruptured Album Release // MAYSSA JALLAD // Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels

April 21, 2023September 17, 2023NewsLeave a Comment

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).

Listen/Order here

WATCH the video for Markaz Azraq (December 6).

READ Brad Rose’s interview with Mayssa Jallad in Foxy Digitalis.

READ Christina Hazboun’s album review in Bandcamp.

READ Maha El Nabawy’s album review in SceneNoise.

Share this:

RIPE: Listen/Order here

Share this:

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Share this:

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Share this:

Share this:

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: Listen/Order here

Share this:

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Ruptured)

MARJAA: Listen/Order (Six of Swords)

Share this:

Listen/Order (Ruptured) HERE

Listen/Order (Six of Swords) HERE

Share this:

Share this:

Listen/Order here

Share this: