SANAM صنم (Beirut) + Barbican Estate

Name: SANAM صنم (Beirut) + Barbican Estate
Start: 2025-12-05T19:30:00+00:00
Location: Rich Mix London

Schedule

Fri, 05 Dec, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Rich Mix London | London, EN

Baba Yaga's Hut Presents:
SANAM صنم (Beirut, Lebanon)
+ Barbican Estate (Tokyo, Japan)
SANAM is a Beirut-based sextet that merges psych/kraut, improv/skronk, electronics, goth, and jazz elements with traditional Egyptian song and modern Arabic poetry in a compelling brew of widescreen hybrid avant-rock. Emerging from Beirut’s fiercely creative independent scene, the group features Sandy Chamoun (vocals), Antonio Hajj (bass), Farah Kaddour (buzuq), Anthony Sahyoun (guitar, synth), Pascal Semerdjian (drums), and Marwan Tohme (guitars)—each an accomplished musician in their own right, with ties to influential Lebanese acts like Kinematik, Postcards, Al Rahel al Kabir, and Oviid. Formed following an invitation to collaborate with Hans Joachim Irmler (of German krautrock legends Faust) at the Irtijal Festival in 2021, the band solidified its identity during a recording residency in rural Lebanon amid national turmoil.
SANAM captured its debut album Aykathani Malakon entirely live, forgoing overdubs, embracing improvisation and musical friction to create an immersive and otherworldly sonic landscape. With haunting vocals, deeply textured instrumental layers, and texts by Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish and contemporary Lebanese poets Bassem Hajjar and Paul Shaoul, the album channels the urgency, mysticism, and emotional upheaval of contemporary life in Lebanon and the region. Mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem in My Heart) and mastered by Heba Kadry, the debut album was released in June 2023 by UK label Mais Um Discos, garnering notable critical acclaim from The Guardian, The Wire, BBC Radio 6 (from both Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft) and Bandcamp Daily.
SANAM brought its live show to Europe for select engagements in 2023-2024, including festival appearances at Le Guess Who?, Feeërieën, and End of the Road and recorded a live album at London’s Café Oto, released on limited edition cassette by Mais Um Discos, capturing the raw and transcendent energy of the band’s performances.
SANAM made its first trip to North America in June 2025 with a string of festival appearances in Canada, including Sled Island, Everyseeker, and Suoni Per Il Popolo, followed by European festival dates in July, including Roskilde. The band will release their sophomore album with renowned Canadian experimental label Constellation in September 2025, promising a deeper dive into their boundary-defying synthesis of folklore, feedback, and freeform fervor.
Their latest album Sametou Sawtan is out now on Constellation Records
“Excellent… Psychedelic guitar swirl, Arabic lyrics and pounding drums cohere to create a loud and lively eight tracks, with highlight Harik using singer Sandy Chamoun’s gasping vocalisations as punctuating rhythm.” - THE GUARDIAN
“a sort of blood-thirsty Arkestra from Beirut. Pure skronk, dense strings and chanted vocals sit atop some thunderous desert rock as singer Sandy Chamoun yelps and hollers with ever-increasing intensity.” - LOUD AND QUIET
---
Barbican Estate is a three-piece band blending experimental and psychedelic rock, noise, and diverse artistic influences into vivid, immersive soundscapes. After forming in Tokyo in 2019 and becoming active in the local scene, they relocated to London in 2022, where they continue to expand their sonic and visual expression through live performances and collaborations.
Their 2024 self-released EP Viscum, created with emerging British artists, drew attention for its distinctive sound and aesthetic. In 2025, they gained further recognition with headline appearances at Independent Venue Week, Rough Trade East, Baba Yaga's Hut and Eat Your Own Ears–curated events.
Their debut album Way Down East (2021) was reissued by US label Echodelick and the EP Barbican City of Tokyo was released via UK label Feral Child Recordings.