Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels

The Battle of the Hotels was a vicious conflict that took place in Beirut at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War, between October 1975 and March 1976, in which, at least initially, opposing militias fought bitterly for possession of a small hotel complex. If it sounds like a scenario from the imagination of JG Ballard, it's also a very real and grisly reminder of the absurd horror of war.

In this succinct yet powerful concept album, Beirut-based singer-songwriter Mayssa Jallad attempts to critically examine this violent episode's cultural and political legacy. It is, as one might expect, a sombre affair largely comprised of Jallad's delicate vocals backed by acoustic guitar and ethereal synthesizer. Elsewhere, co-composer and producer Fadi Tabbal adds the crackle of distant artillery and a ghostly wind between the high-rise blocks while Farah Kaddour evokes more ancient landscapes with the brittle plucking of a buzuk. The inclusion of lyrics translated from the Arabic makes it clear that this is a defiant ultimatum, calling for the removal of the still-ruling political class that makes such savage folly possible: ‘The war will not end / As long as we vote for the Reds and Blues.’