{"product_id":"kazdoura-habibi-funk-037-markab-vinyl-lp-due-out-04-12-26","title":"Kazdoura Habibi Funk 037: Markab Vinyl LP Due Out 04\/12\/26","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKazdoura - Habibi Funk 037: Markab \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePlease note this is a pre-order item due for release 4th December 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTracklist:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1. El Shams\u003cbr\u003e\n2. Bukra\u003cbr\u003e\n3. Ala Mahlak\u003cbr\u003e\n4. Taa\u003cbr\u003e\n5. Ya Maria\u003cbr\u003e\n6. Ma Shafu\u003cbr\u003e\n7. And Then?\u003cbr\u003e\n8. Ya Nassini\u003cbr\u003e\n9. Safinti\u003cbr\u003e\n10. Raqsa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the great success of their debut album Ghoyoum, Syrian-Lebanese duo Kazdoura return with Markab,\u003cbr\u003e\ntheir second album and first release in partnership with Habibi Funk. The album arrives with strong\u003cbr\u003e\nmomentum already behind it: two singles have been released ahead of the album, ‘Taa’ featured in a\u003cbr\u003e\nCOLORS Studios live session, while the other ‘And then?’ has already amassed over 200,000 streams on\u003cbr\u003e\nSpotify. Since the release of Ghoyoum, Kazdoura have taken their music around the world, touring\u003cbr\u003e\ninternationally, playing festivals and selling out shows as their audience has continued to grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Musically, Markab finds Kazdoura at their most confident and fully formed, bringing Arabic musical\u003cbr\u003e\ntraditions into a groove-heavy, organic band sound shaped by psychedelic and Anatolian rock, indie, jazz,\u003cbr\u003e\nAfrobeat and Gnawa. Arabic maqamat including Bayat, Rast, Nakriz, Hijaz and Kurd sit at the heart of the\u003cbr\u003e\nrecord, carried by Leen Hamo’s vocals and John Abou Chacra’s guitar, saxophone and flute, with\u003cbr\u003e\nprominent basslines, live drums, analogue textures and repeating grooves driving the arrangements. While\u003cbr\u003e\nmaking the album, the duo drew inspiration from artists including Alt?n Gün, Men I Trust and Kit Sebastian,\u003cbr\u003e\nalongside older Arabic music and records from the Habibi Funk catalogue. The result moves naturally\u003cbr\u003e\nbetween Arabic melodies and microtonal phrasing, warm psychedelic guitars, jazz-informed\u003cbr\u003e\ninstrumentation and tightly locked rhythms, while retaining the immediacy and energy of Kazdoura’s live\u003cbr\u003e\nperformances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFormed in Toronto by Syrian vocalist Leen Hamo and Lebanese multi-instrumentalist John Abou Chacra,\u003cbr\u003e\nKazdoura bring together two very different musical backgrounds. Leen grew up in Aleppo studying\u003cbr\u003e\nWestern classical music while surrounded at home by the great voices of Arabic music, including Umm\u003cbr\u003e\nKulthum, Leila Mourad and Souad Mohamed. John, born in Lebanon and raised in Kuwait, came to music\u003cbr\u003e\nthrough rock and jazz, with influences ranging from the Beatles and Pink Floyd to Charlie Parker, Dexter\u003cbr\u003e\nGordon and Ziad Rahbani. After meeting in Toronto in 2020, the pair initially found an audience performing\u003cbr\u003e\nArabic classics before gradually stepping away from covers to develop a musical language of their own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMarkab, meaning “vehicle,” comes from a very different place to their debut. While Ghoyoum was shaped\u003cbr\u003e\nby a period of upheaval and uncertainty, the new album is more rooted in the present, reflecting a period\u003cbr\u003e\nof greater confidence, curiosity and joy. Across ten tracks, Kazdoura explore homeland, love, social\u003cbr\u003e\nexpectations, self-image, vulnerability and psychological struggle alongside everyday pleasures, freedom\u003cbr\u003e\nand the possibility of moving forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe album was recorded across two main sessions, beginning with an intensive ten days at Dream Club in\u003cbr\u003e\nVictoria, British Columbia, in July 2025 before the duo completed the remaining material in Toronto\u003cbr\u003e\nthrough the winter and spring of 2026. Despite the different studios, musicians and recording processes,\u003cbr\u003e\nthe result is a cohesive record built around the organic, band-driven sound Kazdoura had been searching\u003cbr\u003e\nfor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlongside eight original compositions, Markab includes Kazdoura’s interpretations of the traditional “Ya\u003cbr\u003e\nMaria” and Elias Rahbani’s “Ya Nassini.” Having built their career independently, Markab opens a new\u003cbr\u003e\nchapter for Kazdoura as their first album released with Habibi Funk, bringing together the musical worlds\u003cbr\u003e\nthat have shaped the duo while pushing their sound firmly forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Assai Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59069549478271,"sku":"HABIBI037LP","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1565\/5653\/files\/99b3b3691376488b90adb2836108faea.jpg?v=1793714049","url":"https:\/\/assai.co.uk\/products\/kazdoura-habibi-funk-037-markab-vinyl-lp-due-out-04-12-26","provider":"Assai Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}