Bedouin Burger – the indie-pop act made up of acclaimed Lebanese producer and multi-instrumentalist Zeid Hamdan, as well as Syrian songstress and composer Lynn Adib – are once again taking their radically different sound to a new realm, offering a futuristic taste of Arabic folk music in their latest album, ‘Ma Li Beit’.
Ever since they got together a couple of years ago, Lynn and Zeid have been turning heads with their extensively eclectic singles, electronically reviving classic Arabic poetry and offering a contemporary rendition of traditional Levantine music. A colourful fusion of classic Arab maqam, Levantine and Yemeni folk rhythms with pulsating, and at times abrasive, electronic beats, the album is yet another playful exploratory effort inspired by the rich nomadic culture of the Arabian peninsula and the Levantine region.
Encompassing 12 tracks, the album, true to its moniker which literally translates to ‘I don’t have a home’, tackles universal themes of exile, homesickness and nostalgia. With Zeid’s spaced-out percussions, analog synths, and emotive guitar notes, peaking and retreating around Lynn’s soul-stirring vocals and celestial sprinkles of poetry, the album serves as an assuring caress to stranded souls longing for a place to call ‘home’.
Throughout the entirety of the album, Lynn beautifully showcases various singing styles from Andulasian Muwashah to entrancing bedouin ballads and lullabies, in a variety of Arabic dialects, including her native Damascene. The album’s intro, ‘HARIR’ - a synergy of Hamdan’s lush strings and Lynn’s mournful lyricism - opens with the singer humming a bittersweet ballad, celebrating the nomadic culture of her Arab heritage. Meanwhile, ‘Dabkeh’, which is more of Hamdan's distinct production style, is a thrilling electro hoedown pairing Arabic percussion and the flutters of the flute with rampaging synths.
Recorded between Paris, where the duo currently reside, and Beirut, the 12-track album also features Lebanese rapper Bu Nasser Touffar on the toned-down track ‘Esha’, along with a hypnotic remix of the duo’s minimalistic electro-tarab hit ‘Taht El Wared’ by Senegali musician, T.I.E.
