Renowned Lebanese-American indie-rock musician Hamed Sinno is making their solo debut this year at Shubbak Festival. After leading the iconic Mashrou' Leila, the gifted composer and singer-songwriter returns to the stage with a new project co-commissioned by the Shubbak Festival and East London’s Barbican Centre, on Saturday 8th July.
Titled ‘Poems of Consumption’, this literary song cycle delves into the connections between consumerism, mental illness, unrequited love, and environmental collapse in the age of Amazon. It doesn't claim to offer an alternative or take a moral high ground, but instead offers a portrait of Nero: a desolate, working-class melancholic crying at Whole Foods while the world outside boils.
The compositions juxtapose the romanticism evoked by a string section with hyper-industrial electronica that's created from the sounds of consumerism - crumpling cellophane, bubble wrap, unboxing, and ripping plastic - creating a swing between the dancefloor and aural assault.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Shubbak Festival is the UK's largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab culture, bringing new and unexpected voices alongside established artists to London every two years. From 23 June to 9 July 2023, Shubbak events with locally and internationally commissioned artists of all disciplines will be held in galleries, concert halls, public squares, hallways, gardens and screens from home.
