History bleeds into melody in the hands of Mayssa Jallad. With Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels, she transforms Beirut’s brutal past into a resonant, living archive of song and resistance.

Singer, songwriter, and trained architect, Mayssa Jallad weaves urban memory, political critique, and intimate storytelling into a singular musical language. Rooted in Arabic folk traditions but unafraid to experiment, her work unfolds where soft acoustic textures collide with the weight of structural collapse — both literal and metaphorical. She treats the city like a score, buildings like verses, and silence like a battleground.

Whether fronting indie band Safar or excavating Beirut’s war-scarred history in Marjaa, Jallad’s voice carries a rare clarity: plaintive, unflinching, and luminous with purpose. She crafts songs that speak across generations — offering post-war youth a mirror to the violence they inherited and a language for reclaiming what was lost.

Her artistry lives in the margins — between architecture and folk, memory and resistance, research and emotion. Recent collaborations, such as with shadowy Swedish producer Civilistjävel!, reveal a growing reach into more abstract and atmospheric terrains, where Arabic vocal lineage meets post-industrial ambience. It's not just music — it’s a re-mapping of Beirut’s psychic terrain.

RIYL: Civilistjävel!, Charif Megarbane, Youmna Saba, Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, Yasmine Hamdan, Alternative Arabic folk, Urban sonic cartography, Architectural songwriting, Post-war memorywork, Acoustic resistance.

Concert included in the SS26 season pass! https://secure.tickster.com/5vmn7ynvgjj79gj