Lebanese Singer-Songwriter Yasmine Hamdan Releases Video Today

Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan has released the video for her song "Balad" today via Blackbook. Directed by renowned Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, shot in the streets of Beirut, the music video for "Balad" ("Country") sees Yasmine playing the part of a citizen frustrated by endless corruption, politicians' schemes and state inefficiency, and taking over the street, the parliament and the newsroom at the TV studios. The song appeared on her latest album Al Jamilat ('The Beautiful Ones'), which came out in March of 2017 on Ipecac Records/Crammed Discs.

Watch + Share Video for "Balad" Here

Hailed as 'Arabic music's modern voice' (New York Times), Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan first emerged onto the music scene with Soapkills, the pioneering indie electronic band she founded along with Zeid Hamdan in Beirut in the late '90s. The band gradually acquired an emblematic status and, to this day, Yasmine is considered an underground icon throughout the Arab world.

Later moving to Paris, Yasmine teamed up with Madonna's producer Mirwais, and under the Y.A.S. moniker, recorded the album Arabology, released in 2009 by Universal France. In 2012, Yasmine joined forces with Nouvelle Vague's Marc Collin to produce her debut solo album, Ya Nass, released by Crammed Discs in Europe in 2013 and in Japan and the USA in early 2014. One of the album's tracks, 'Hal' was featured in Jim Jarmusch's film Only Lovers Left Alive and was a contender for the 2014 Oscar Award for Best Original Song.

On her second album Al Jamilat ('The Beautiful Ones'), she pursues her musical exploration, while taking a look at the mutations at work within the Arab world. It was produced by Hamdan along with UK producers Luke Smith (Foals, Depeche Mode, Lily Allen) and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Carl Barât), and recorded with contributions from NY musicians Shahzad Ismaily (Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Marc Ribot) and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley.

Yasmin Hamdan will launch her US tour in Chicago in November, performing songs from her latest album, Al Jamilat ('The Beautiful Ones').
****See below for full-announced tour dates****

Yasmine Hamdan Tour Dates
November 7 - Chicago, IL - Martyr's
November 9 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
November 12 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
November 14 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
November 16 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
November 18 - Montreal, QC - L'Astral

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