Yasmine Hamdan is finally back, right when we need her most. After an eight-year break, Hamdan has released her newest record, I remember I forget. The regional musical and political landscape has radically shifted since her previous release, and Hamdan reflects this fractured political reality with painful clarity. Yet, she anchors us in her familiar and signature sonic identity, with haunting vocals, trip-hop echoes, and a sound rooted in authenticity and experimentation.
Hamdan is a foundational figure for alternative Arabic music. She started as Soapkills in the late 90s, the indie-electronic trip-hop duo she formed with musician Zeid Hamdan, melding Arabic melodies with synthy electronica. In 2009, she partnered with producer Mirwais Ahmadzai under the name Y.A.S. to release Arabology, a club-ready electronic pop album with playful yet earnest lyricism. Both projects pushed the boundaries of what Arabic music can sound like, broadening the potentiality of music production in the region. Hamdan then went solo, releasing Ya Nass in 2013 and Al Jamilat in 2017, cementing her icon status for a generation of underground musicians and listeners.
The Arabic music space has since shifted rapidly. Alternative and underground acts have found themselves suddenly surrounded by a musical infrastructure, from festivals like MDLBEAST and Sole DXB, to labels like Universal Music Group founding a MENA branch. Although this industrialization benefits artists in terms of liquidity and visibility, its commercialisation makes one nostalgic for the more organic musical landscape that existed in the past. Additionally, the Israeli genocide in Palestine and attacks on Lebanon, as well as the war in Sudan, have reconfigured the entire outlook and landscape of the region, making these glittering and monied initiatives feel inauthentic and out-of-touch with the depraved dispossession the region is subject to.
Enter, Yasmine Hamdan. I remember I forget is a bittersweet and candid reflection of our times, staring pain right in the face. The album’s title track captures the region’s current psychoemotional state, with the detached, almost sarcastic lyricism of “Death is normal, lying is normal … worry is normal, fear is normal,” summing up the current routinisation of horrors. The mournfulness of the lyrics is offset by an upbeat blend of electronic synths, and hints of Touareg strings and melodies. ‘Shadia’ is similarly bittersweet, although sonically a retro love song with twinkling Nubian strings, Hamdan asks a lover “Stay with me tonight, it will pass. Enough, enough.” It feels like asking for tenderness at the end of the world.
Other tracks are more explicitly somber, like ‘Hon’, where Hamdan sings “Here, every day is a rehearsal for death,” referencing the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Sparse production crescendos into a hypnotic and spacey groove, navigating grief and sadness with a percussive pulse. Tracks like ‘Vows’ feel like classic Yasmine Hamdan, vibrating with dub-heavy trip-hop reverbs accompanied by a creeping flute. ‘DAYA3’ continues this hypnotic sound, with Hamdan’s sultry vocals stretching over electronic textures, interspersed with oud strings and haunting whistles.
At a time when music in the region is facing increased commercialisation, feeling ever more distant from lived realities, Hamdan stays true to her musical roots while capturing the anguish of our times. She balances grief with persistence, tempering pain and disappointment with the experimental grooviness she’s known for. Hamdan reminds us of our humanity – at a juncture where that very humanity is being stripped away.
