Bedouin Burger's new EP fulfils the promise of one of the region’s exciting new indie acts.
A collaboration between pioneering Lebanese musician producer Zeid Hamdan and Syrian singer Lynn Adib, the BB EP is a vibrant collection of five songs blending pulsating and, at times, abrasive electronic beats with the rich sounds of Levant folk and balladry.
The fact it sounds so assuring is more impressive considering the uncertain circumstances that spawned the duo.
Bedouin Burger formed in 2020 in a Beirut at a standstill because of the first waves of Covid-19, when Hamdan holed himself up in a local studio working on beats and loops he would email to Adib in Paris.
Those early songs, Taht el Wared and Ya Man Hawa (not on BB), are defined by those straitened times.
“They basically feature just Lynn and I and the few toys I had in the studio,” Hamdan tells The National.
“But both are very important in that it went on to show our evolution and our changing circumstances.”
Bedouin Burger's early days were also an outlet for Adib to express grief for a personal loss.
Taht el Wared, meaning Beneath the Flowers, has her ghostly vocals hovering over a production that begins languidly, before evolving into a pulsating dance rhythm.
The song was inspired, Adib says, by her late husband, Nicolas Zwierz, who died of cancer in 2017.
“The lyrics and melodies I actually wrote two years ago, when I went to Poland to visit my husband’s grave,” she told The National in a previous interview.
“And I remember feeling so touched by the fact that he is alone there, lying beneath roses. So I wrote this song when I returned home and I wanted it to somehow sound like a celebration of this love we have.”
With Lebanon’s deteriorating economy forced Hamdan to relocate to Paris last year, the duo reunited in person and work on the EP began.
The resulting five songs are more detailed and fully formed, owing to the better studios and musicians available in the city.
It is a tight and cohesive listen, complementing both artist’s respective visions.
Acknowledged as one of the godfathers of Arabic indie music, Hamdan has been a trailblazer in Lebanon’s underground music scene since at least 1997.
He founded the seminal electro-pop band Soapkills with singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan, before producing a string of releases by cutting-edge Arab artists, including Maii Waleed and Maryam Saleh, as well as composer Khaled Mouzanar's score for Nadine Labaki's 2019 Oscar-nominated film Capernaum.
Damascus-born Adib is also known for her adventurous streak, with projects fusing Arabic jazz and soul with electronic music — a striking approach displayed on last year's album Nearness, created with French multi-instrumentalist Marc Buronfosse.
By combining their efforts, Hamdan says Bedouin Burger hopes to create a soundtrack for what it means to be an Arab today.
"I just feel like it's about providing a more realistic portrait of our generation," he says.
"We are deeply rooted in our parent's tradition, but at the same time we are the children of new technology and other modern influences.
“Lynn and I love traditional music but we can only express it in the way we know and not the way our parents did.”
This is epitomised in the instrumental Dabkeh, a thrilling electro hoedown pairing Arabic percussion and flutters of the flute with rampaging synths.
Above the intoxicating rhythms is Adib’s sensual wail, at once longing and euphoric.
Where Dabkeh felt more like a Hamdan production exercise, other tracks in the EP display a finer synergy between both talents.
Nomad is the most organic sound of the bunch.
Carried by the bluesy notes of the guitalele (a compact six-string guitar), which Hamdan describes as Bedouin Burger's signature instrument, Adib's frail vocals echo the tragedy of displacement.
Ethereal and sparse, it also illustrates Hamdan's measured approach in the studio.
"It's very important that each instrument has its importance," he says.
"So, for instance, in a song like Nomad, the main quality is Lynn's beautiful vocals, so my job is to empower the vocal and not compete with it.
“I am not one to over orchestrate, it's all a question of balance."
That poise is also found behind the scenes with Hamdan surrendering his normally tight grip on his projects to outside management.
In 2021 Bedouin Burger signed a recording agreement with Pop Arabia, the Abu Dhabi music publishing company, and independent New York music company Reservoir.
The regional and international ties have already borne fruit.
Last year they performed as part of the influential Tiny Desk concert series organised by American radio channel NPR, and at Riyadh's XP Music Conference.
With a second EP on the way later this year and an international tour in the works, Hamdan is now happy to focus on what matters.
“In the past, some of my projects didn’t reach the level they were meant to go,” he says.
"Now, with the experience that I have had with so many bands, I no longer want to do this alone. I want to implicate professionals, managers and agents to help.
“That way I can focus on the music and the rest will follow.”
RESULT
Manchester United 1 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Man United: Dunk (66' og)
Man of the Match: Shane Duffy (Brighton)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 4 (Salah (pen 4, 33', & pen 88', Van Dijk (20')
Leeds United 3 (Harrison 12', Bamford 30', Klich 66')
Man of the match Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Results
4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m; Winner: MM Al Balqaa, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Qaiss Aboud (trainer)
5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: AF Rasam, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mujeeb, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud
7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Pat Dobbs, Ibrahim Aseel
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Nibraas, Richard Mullen, Nicholas Bachalard
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The years Ramadan fell in May
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
