Yasmine Hamdan

If you know that Marc Collin produced the most recent album by Beirut-born singer Yasmine Hamdan, you understand why there’s room for her on this blog. For Monsieur Nouvelle Vague, the mastermind behind Ollano and a whole bunch of others (see an old post here) is King Midas when it comes to les filles. This new album by Yasmine is a fusion of western electronics an Arab atmospheres, just like Yasmine’s former band Soapkills (listen to a great track she re-recorded for her album). If this is Beirut by night, then it’s far from dangerous, it’s humid, sexy, tempting. This is far better than Ofra Haza or Natasha Atlas, at least in my book.
I have no clue what Yasmine’s singing about, but an expert told me ‘the songs are about what all songs are about’. But they sure don’t sound like all songs.