After a three year hiatus, Lebanese-American indie-rock musician Hamed Sinno captivated the audience with their solo debut, Poems of Consumption.
What began as “buying stuff and then writing poetry about them in the Amazon reviews”, turned into a brilliantly crafted literary song cycle that explores the Venn diagram of mental health, the environment and consumerism. The large multifield project headlined the UK's largest festival of Contemporary Arab Arts, Shubbak, and left the audience awed.
From breath-taking vocals to compelling storytelling, the artist’s audio-visuals laced with intricate poetic language was truly a feast for the senses. Showcasing their unique artistry, Hamed Sinno also shared with the audience their creative journey; from recycling London Underground’s advertisement slogans to wanting to take a powerful stand against Western reporting's repression and packaging of Arab artists.
The concert felt revolutionary in relation to the notion of consumption, walking us through the addictive tendencies behind consumerism and our associations with it. The audience witnessed the development of Sinno’s soulful relationship with the project and the city of London.
Filled with spontaneity and experimentation, the artist proved how music doesn’t have to be polished to perfection; incorporating cellophane paper, the scrunching of bubble wrap and receipts whistling over a fan.
There were musical theater moments, opera moments and hard EDM moments, all fused with Sinno’s deep vocals, electronic beats and live string arrangement - it was beautiful to see them embracing the freedom of creating music as a solo artist.
Preluding to the concert, the artist sat down with old school friend and joint CEO of the Shubbak Festival, Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso for an honest and intimate conversation at the British Library. Sinno spoke very openly about how their neurodiversity affects their creativity, acknowledging addictive behaviors as rewards systems.
“Having ADHD, I see how this affects every detail of how I interact with every waking moment. Does it affect my work positively? I think it does, hyper-focus is real and that can be really constructive and rewarding.’
This ‘Hamed Sinno: In Conversation’ event explored the many different mirrors they’ve held up to the project, within consumption but also how it relates to mental health and love. Sharing a very exclusive snippet of their track, ‘Abalone’, the artist reflected on how they “wanted to be consumable and kept obsessing on how the songs needed to be polite and polished and perfectly produced.”
“Now, I am more interested in the chaos of creating, the process of it and the process of seeing work evolve over time. It’s such a wonderful thing - especially now with AI art. If we’re not turning to art for discourse and rhetoric and seeing what hands can do over time, then we’re just looking for a product, then we should just do the AI thing.”
If there's one thing to take away from this piece, it is that Hamed Sinno has officially claimed their space as a solo artist, and to question your relationship with consumerism.
Look out for Sinno’s upcoming project, an opera titled Westerly Breath in New York on the 17th of January 2024.
