Yasmine Hamdan

Yasmine Hamdan emerged as a trailblazer in Middle Eastern pop by fronting Soap Kills, the ensemble frequently hailed as the first indie-electronic outfit to achieve widespread recognition in the region, before extending her reach worldwide as a performer, composer, and screen presence. Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1976, she entered the music scene in the mid-'90s through the rock group Lombrix alongside multi-instrumentalist Zeid Hamdan, though the identical surname reflects no family tie. After Lombrix disbanded in 1997 she and Zeid established a new venture fusing traditional Arabic elements with modern electronic textures, forming Soap Kills and issuing the debut album Bater in 2001. One of Lebanon’s earliest independent acts to build a following, the group soon ranked among the most discussed names across the Middle East. Following the 2005 releases Cheftak and Enta Fen plus tours through Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, she settled in Paris and aligned with producer Mirwais, the former Taxi Girl member who also collaborated with Madonna. Under the name Y.A.S. they completed the 2008 album Arabology, while she further worked with the American indie act CocoRosie. Stepping out independently in 2012, she recorded her first solo project with producer Marc Collin; the resulting Yasmine Hamdan appeared in France and Lebanon by year’s end, and the reworked, expanded edition Ya Nass received an international release on Crammed Discs in 2013. Her profile rose sharply in 2014 when filmmaker Jim Jarmusch cast her in the hipster vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive, starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston; she appears as herself and gives a mesmerizing nightclub performance in Tangiers. She returned in 2017 with her second studio album, Al Jamilat (The Beautiful Ones), produced in part by U.K. producers Luke Smith and Leo Abrahams and featuring contributions from Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily.