Lebanese Indie Music Label // Promoter & Distributor // Radio Show
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.
Camille Cabbabe – K2
Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe – Lateral
Big Thief – Double Infinity
caroline – caroline 2
Ichiko Aoba – Luminescent Creatures
Blood Orange – Essex Honey
Prefaces – Acqua Marina
Juana Molina – DOGA
Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
Fadi Tabbal – I recognize you from my sketches
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 dreampop duo SNAKESKIN (Julia Sabra & Fadi Tabbal). Originally commissioned by Stegi Radio and produced by Onassis Stegi.
Snakeskin is a Beirut-based duo making electronic dreampop that incorporates ambient, industrial, and experimental elements. The project brings together producer and musician Fadi Tabbal and singer songwriter Julia Sabra, also a member of indie trio Postcards.
The duo’s third album We live in sand will be released on October 10, 2025 as a co-release between Ruptured and Beacon Sound. Written as the war in Gaza spread to Lebanon, it is their starkest and most immediate work to date, combining industrial beats, ambient dirges, and Julia’s distinctive vocals.
TRACK LISTING:
1- Snakeskin: Ready
2- Nadah El Shazly: Kaabi Ali
3- Lucrecia Dalt: Caes (feat. Camille Mandoki)
4- SANAM: Goblin
5- Snakeskin: October sun
6- Kelly Moran: Don’t Trust Mirrors
7- Sary Moussa: Everywhere at Once
8- Jerusalem In My Heart: Ana Lisan Wahad (feat. Farida Amadou & Pierre-Guy Blanchard)
9- Dina El Wedidi: The Moon
10- Gizzmo: A Change in the Seasons
11- Snakeskin: Blindsided
12- Mabe Fratti: Kravitz
13- Postcards: Poison
14- Blood Orange: Look at You
15- Snakeskin: Black water
Nov 04 Berlin, Germany – Morphine Raum
Nov 06 Zutphen, The Netherlands – Modka Beiroet
Nov 08 Utrecht, The Netherlands – Le Guess Who?
Nov 09 Ghent, Belgium – Groot Begijnhof Church
Nov 12 Paris, France – Les Relais Solidaires
Nov 13 Oslo, Norway – Kafe Haerverk
Nov 14 Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Murmur
Sep 18 Brussels, Belgium – Studio Marcel Delcourt / Toaster, Ixelles @ 7:00 PM
Sep 19 Holzminden, Germany – Horstberg @ 8:00 PM
Sep 20 Offenbach Am Main, Germany – Hafen 2 @ 8:00 PM
Sep 22 Berlin, Germany – Kantine am Berghain @ 8:00 PM
Sep 23 Kiel, Germany – hansa48 @ 8:00 PM
Sep 24 Dresden, Germany – Ostpol @ 9:00 PM
Sep 25 Thu Neu-ulm, Germany – GOLD @ 8:00 PM
Sep 26 Schorndorf, Germany – Club Manufaktur e. V. @ 8:30 PM
Sep 27 Dachau, Germany – Old cinema of the KKD @ 7:30 PM
Sep 28 Karlsruhe, Germany – Kohi cultural area e.V. @ 8:00 PM
Sep 30 Bern, Switzerland – ONO – Das Kulturlokal @ 8:00 PM
Oct 2 Kreuzlingen, Switzerland – Apollo Kreuzlingen @ 8:00 PM
Oct 4 Paris, France – Folia @ 8:00 PM
Oct 9 Nantes, France – Stereolux @ 8:00 PM
Out 10 October 2025 via Ruptured and Beacon Sound
We live in sand is the 3rd album from SNAKESKIN, the Beirut-based duo of Julia Sabra and Fadi Tabbal.
Written in October 2024, just as Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza fully spread to Lebanon and finally reached Beirut, the album is their darkest and rawest yet, exploring what it feels like to wait, to love, to grieve, and to keep living while the world falls apart. Pairing Tabbal’s masterful production with Sabra’s vivid imagery and evocative singing, the duo, as Resident Advisor put it, mines “deep emotional depths by tempering dream pop’s sweet-natured reverie with experimental snarl.” Bearing witness to impossible events, We live in sand is a complex and nuanced work, balancing forward-thinking pop sensibilities with relentless realism and a poetic spirit of empathy.
Composed, performed and produced by Julia Sabra and Fadi Tabbal between Beirut and Bern. Lyrics by Julia Sabra. Drum samples by Pascal Semerdjian.
Mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh at Hotel2Tango, Montreal. Mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering, Montreal.
Album art, band portrait, and “October sun” video by Mohamad Abdouni. Design by Josette Khalil.
This album is the third volume in the Corrosion Series, a collaborative effort by Beacon Sound in Portland and Ruptured in Beirut.
Thank you for listening and supporting.
PREFACES RETURN WITH ‘ACQUA MARINA’ – A SUN-DRUNK, HAUNTED GUITAR ALBUM FOR OFF-SEASON BEACHES
Out 15 August 2025 via Ruptured and Hisstology
Beirut-based trio Prefaces return with Acqua Marina, a luminous and melancholic new album that conjures the empty beach clubs and concrete shorelines of Lebanon’s coastline. Out 15 August 2025 via Ruptured and Hisstology Records (vinyl + digital), the album marks the band’s second full-length release—following their 2021 debut Hippodrome.
Prefaces is composed of Charif Megarbane (Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Habibi Funk), Salim Naffah (Alko B), and Pascal Semerdjian (Postcards, SANAM)—three key players in Lebanon’s independent and experimental music scenes. On Acqua Marina, the trio distills elements of surf rock, Mediterranean psych, and vintage library music, while weaving in the modal turns and rhythms of the Levant.
Where Hippodrome emerged from a spirit of improvisation and spontaneity, Acqua Marina is more deliberate in tone and form. The album was recorded at Tunefork Studios in Beirut and shaped around recurring imagery: abandoned pools, tiled corridors, rusting gates, and the strange beauty of deserted resort towns. Lead single “Marmoura” captures that sensibility with reverb-laced guitar melodies and a gently hypnotic rhythm, drawing the listener into Prefaces’ submerged world.
Acqua Marina speaks in coastal dialects both real and imagined. Fans of Khruangbin, Allah-Las, Omar Khorshid, Ennio Morricone, or Megarbane’s own Cosmic Analog Ensemble will find plenty to explore in its currents.
The album is released on limited edition vinyl and digital formats, with artwork that mirrors the album’s themes of faded glamour and seasonal drift.
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
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.
Photo by Nessim Stevenson
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
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)
Ruptured Music 