Kazdoura Habibi Funk 037: Markab Vinyl LP Due Out 04/12/26

Kazdoura - Habibi Funk 037: Markab

Please note this is a pre-order item due for release 4th December 2026

Tracklist:

1. El Shams
2. Bukra
3. Ala Mahlak
4. Taa
5. Ya Maria
6. Ma Shafu
7. And Then?
8. Ya Nassini
9. Safinti
10. Raqsa

After the great success of their debut album Ghoyoum, Syrian-Lebanese duo Kazdoura return with Markab,
their second album and first release in partnership with Habibi Funk. The album arrives with strong
momentum already behind it: two singles have been released ahead of the album, ‘Taa’ featured in a
COLORS Studios live session, while the other ‘And then?’ has already amassed over 200,000 streams on
Spotify. Since the release of Ghoyoum, Kazdoura have taken their music around the world, touring
internationally, playing festivals and selling out shows as their audience has continued to grow.

Musically, Markab finds Kazdoura at their most confident and fully formed, bringing Arabic musical
traditions into a groove-heavy, organic band sound shaped by psychedelic and Anatolian rock, indie, jazz,
Afrobeat and Gnawa. Arabic maqamat including Bayat, Rast, Nakriz, Hijaz and Kurd sit at the heart of the
record, carried by Leen Hamo’s vocals and John Abou Chacra’s guitar, saxophone and flute, with
prominent basslines, live drums, analogue textures and repeating grooves driving the arrangements. While
making the album, the duo drew inspiration from artists including Alt?n Gün, Men I Trust and Kit Sebastian,
alongside older Arabic music and records from the Habibi Funk catalogue. The result moves naturally
between Arabic melodies and microtonal phrasing, warm psychedelic guitars, jazz-informed
instrumentation and tightly locked rhythms, while retaining the immediacy and energy of Kazdoura’s live
performances.

Formed in Toronto by Syrian vocalist Leen Hamo and Lebanese multi-instrumentalist John Abou Chacra,
Kazdoura bring together two very different musical backgrounds. Leen grew up in Aleppo studying
Western classical music while surrounded at home by the great voices of Arabic music, including Umm
Kulthum, Leila Mourad and Souad Mohamed. John, born in Lebanon and raised in Kuwait, came to music
through rock and jazz, with influences ranging from the Beatles and Pink Floyd to Charlie Parker, Dexter
Gordon and Ziad Rahbani. After meeting in Toronto in 2020, the pair initially found an audience performing
Arabic classics before gradually stepping away from covers to develop a musical language of their own.

Markab, meaning “vehicle,” comes from a very different place to their debut. While Ghoyoum was shaped
by a period of upheaval and uncertainty, the new album is more rooted in the present, reflecting a period
of greater confidence, curiosity and joy. Across ten tracks, Kazdoura explore homeland, love, social
expectations, self-image, vulnerability and psychological struggle alongside everyday pleasures, freedom
and the possibility of moving forward.

The album was recorded across two main sessions, beginning with an intensive ten days at Dream Club in
Victoria, British Columbia, in July 2025 before the duo completed the remaining material in Toronto
through the winter and spring of 2026. Despite the different studios, musicians and recording processes,
the result is a cohesive record built around the organic, band-driven sound Kazdoura had been searching
for.

Alongside eight original compositions, Markab includes Kazdoura’s interpretations of the traditional “Ya
Maria” and Elias Rahbani’s “Ya Nassini.” Having built their career independently, Markab opens a new
chapter for Kazdoura as their first album released with Habibi Funk, bringing together the musical worlds
that have shaped the duo while pushing their sound firmly forward.