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Snakeskin

by Fadi Tabbal

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1.
Still Life 03:15
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2.
All The Birds 04:06
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3.
Snakeskin 04:18
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4.
Past Tense 03:39
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5.
In Our Garden 03:45
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6.
One By One 06:57
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7.
Signs 02:40
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8.
Roots 11:02
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about

The Limited Edition Vinyl is available at
rupturedthelabel.bandcamp.com or beaconsound.bandcamp.com

Snakeskin is an album of visionary electronic dream pop, shapeshifting above ambient and industrial undercurrents. It is moody, unsettling, luminous – the culmination of a decade of collaboration and friendship between Lebanese producer/musician/ engineer Fadi Tabbal and singer-songwriter Julia Sabra from Beirut-based indie trio Postcards.

The duo began working on Snakeskin in the aftermath of the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed at least 218 people, injured 7,000, and left over 300,000 people homeless. Indeed, Julia's home was destroyed by the explosion and her partner and bandmate Pascal badly injured. The first song that they wrote together afterwards was 'Roots', which closes out the album and was composed for the Ruptured-curated series The Drone Sessions in the fall of 2020.

Snakeskin utilizes tape loops, synthesizers, vocals, and drum machines, combining Julia’s pop-inspired melodies and choral roots (an echo from her religious upbringing) with Fadi’s affinity for minimalism and musique concrète. The album seamlessly incorporates the melancholy electro-pop of 'All The Birds', the quiet menace of 'In Our Garden' (long-lost treasures, ancient lies / another buried paradise), and the beat-driven 'Signs'. The title track sums up their frame of mind, beginning as a lullaby and evolving into a glittering tapestry of distortion and feedback.

As the artists write, Snakeskin is a product of "the disappearance of life as we know it, and with it the decay of nature and living creatures. There is no rebirth, no renewal. It’s about what it means to feel at home in such a place."

Some tracks were also inspired by events happening in the surrounding region, such as the invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan and the Palestinian uprising of May 2021 (Sheikh Jarrah) - both events shedding light on relationships to home and land across the wider region. That such compelling art can emerge from unceasing tragedy may be the ultimate testament to human resilience and the pursuit of freedom and justice.

The moon speaks in tongues we can't discern / A plastic dove hangs from a cypress branch / Haven't you heard? / Nothing grows here anymore / The air is burnt / Nothing grows...

credits

released October 14, 2022

All music composed, performed and produced by Julia Sabra and Fadi Tabbal between November 2020 and December 2022. Lyrics by Julia Sabra. Drum samples by Pascal Semerdjian.

Recorded by Fadi Tabbal, mixed by Sary Moussa and Fadi Tabbal at Tunefork Studios, Beirut.

Cover photo by Lujain Jo. Design by Josette 'ZOoz' Khalil.

Mastered by Rashad Becker.

Thanks to Ziad Nawfal, Andrew Neerman, Sary Moussa, Anthony Sahyoun, Pascal Semerdjian, Rachel Tabet, Marwan Tohme

This is the second volume in the Corrosion Series, a collaborative effort by Beacon Sound and Ruptured, and the sixth collaboration between the two labels.

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Fadi Tabbal image

Fadi Tabbal Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanese musician, producer, and sound engineer Fadi Tabbal’s solo work consists of guitar pieces ranging from stripped acoustics to ambient and electronic-inspired treatments. He has released 4 albums since 2013, his latest being Music for the Lonely Vol.1 (2018).
Tabbal is also part of several Lebanese bands and works on sound and music installations for museums, theatre, and films. ... more

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