Aykathani Malakon

Beirut-based sextet, SANAM, were formed in 2022 in response to an invitation to perform with Hans Joachim Irmler, formerly of quixotic German experimentalists Faust. There's a hint of that group's disregard for convention and genre in this debut album, which explores a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred aesthetic formed in improv sessions with Irmler.

Ostensibly, SANAM are a rock band – at least to the same twisted extent that Faust were – with an ear for subverting traditional forms. ‘Bell’ is a radical updating of a traditional Egyptian song with brittle buzuk plucked by Farah Kaddour, rendered over a motorik beat and a constantly clanging bell. At the same time, there's a drive to incorporate texts by more contemporary Arab writers: ‘Ayouha Al-Taiin Fi Al-Mawt’ is a maudlin post-rock lope with jangly guitar over which vocalist Sandy Chamoun recites a Paul Chaoul poem with a rising, hysterical urgency.

But it works best when form is largely jettisoned, enabling the band to explore more nebulous regions. Opening track, ‘Aykathani Malakon’, is a swirl of free-form delirium with simmering drums, chattering vocals and buzuk splinters, and the closing ‘Rings’ is a gauzy meditation with languorous vocals, jewel-like twinkles and rumbling sub-bass.