Yasmine Hamdan on new solo album and the legacy of SoapKills

Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan remains one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Arabic music. She forged a trailblazing career with the seminal band SoapKills before going solo, following a path defined by restless energy and a search for new forms of expression. Her latest album, I Remember I Forget, continues that journey, drawing on themes of memory, exile and distance. Written and recorded in Paris, Sicily and Beirut, the work is both personal and political, shaped by regional dislocation and the freedoms and costs of life abroad. In this debut episode of the Tarab podcast, host Saeed Saeed speaks to Hamdan about the making of the album, the legacy of SoapKills and how living outside Lebanon influences her voice and artistic vision. Tarab is a new weekly podcast that takes listeners inside the Middle East’s music scene through candid conversations with the region's artists. A new episode drops every Tuesday across all podcast platforms.