Sanam - Sametou Sawtan (2025) [Hi-Res]

SANAM return with Sametou Sawtan, a powerful follow-up to their acclaimed Mais Um debut. Produced by Radwan Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart), the album blends Arabic folk tradition with psych, krautrock, free jazz, electronic distortion and gothic atmosphere. Its title, meaning “I Heard A Voice,” reflects the album’s core theme: the power of sound and poetry to evoke distance, intensity, and transformation.

Initial sketches formed at Tunefork Studios in Beirut, later expanded during a residency at Beit Faris in Byblos. The sextet—Sandy Chamoun (vocals), Antonio Hajj (bass), Farah Kaddour (buzuq), Anthony Sahyoun (guitar/synth), Pascal Semerdjian (drums), and Marwan Tohme (guitars)—completed recording in Paris while touring in summer 2024.

Chamoun’s lyrics appear on two tracks, with the rest drawing from sources like Egyptian folk songs, modern Lebanese poetry, and verses by 12th-century polymath Omar Khayyam. The music captures both chaotic beauty and emotional dislocation—from the spectral ballad ‘Goblin’ to the ecstatic burn of ‘Harik’. Sametou Sawtan is a disorienting, deeply felt record—alive with ritual, resistance, and release.



Tracklist:
1. Sandy Chamoun - Harik
2. Sandy Chamoun - Goblin
3. Sandy Chamoun - Habibon
4. Sandy Chamoun - Hadikat Al Ams
5. Sandy Chamoun - Hamam
6. Sandy Chamoun - Sayl Damei
7. Sandy Chamoun - Tatayoum
8. Sandy Chamoun - Sametou Sawtan