Habibi

Brooklyn-based indie quintet Habibi evolved from its initial garage rock phase into more polished songwriting and broader instrumentation that highlighted the members’ Middle Eastern roots on the 2020 sophomore album Anywhere But Here. By the release of Dreamachine in 2024, the group had further integrated dance music and vintage synthesizer textures into its sound.

Detroit expatriates Rahill Jamalifard and Lenaya Lynch formed Habibi in spring 2011, shaping simple, catchy pop melodies with punk attitude and ’60s girl-group hooks. Jamalifard sang lead, Lynch played guitar and sang, and the lineup was completed by drummer Karen Isabel and bassist Erin Campbell. Regular performances throughout the New York City area led to several tracks appearing on 7-inch singles and online streams. Festival appearances at South by Southwest and tours with like-minded acts such as King Tuff preceded the 2014 self-titled debut album of dreamy, dance-oriented pop issued on Burger Records. In 2015 the band issued a split single with La Luz.

Jamalifard later released a self-titled 2017 album with her side project Roya, which featured additional guitarist Leah Fishman. A four-song EP, Cardamom Garden, followed in 2018. After extensive international touring, Habibi began work on its second album, exploring a wider instrumental and arrangement palette. The more refined Anywhere But Here appeared in early 2020, expanding beyond the band’s garage-rock origins with Middle Eastern instrumentation on several tracks.

By the time recording began for the third album, the lineup had changed: drummer Lyla Vander, who had previously played in Roya, bassist Yukary Morishima, and guitarist Ana Becker joined Jamalifard and Lynch. During much of the pandemic the members lived together in upstate New York, a period when Jamalifard also began recording and releasing trip-hop-influenced indie pop under the name Rahill. The group then traveled to producer Tyler Love’s Brooklyn studio to develop songs that incorporated disco and dance-punk influences along with a stronger reliance on synthesizers. Longtime collaborator Jay Heiselmann and MGMT’s James Richardson contributed instrumental support. The resulting album, Dreamachine, was released in May 2024.