Once a member of the Beirut duo Soapkills, Yasmine Hamdan enjoys cult status in the Middle East thanks to her cool, electropop songs with Arabic lyrics. In the west she is less well known, despite her contribution to the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive. But that could change with this intriguing second album. The obvious comparison is to Algeria’s Souad Massi, and the opening track, Douss, starts off like a Massi favourite, with its blend of gently melodic acoustic guitar and languid, husky vocals. Then the electronica and other instrumentation ease in, helped by subtle production work from Luke Smith and Leo Abrahams. There is a dream-like quality to songs such as Balad and Assi, and a Middle Eastern edge to the title track – based on a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish – and the atmospheric Cafe, the best track on this adventurous set.
