Kazdoura : Habibi Funk 037: Markab

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.