Formed in a response to the, then unheard of, cancellation of the Christmas nativity celebrations at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2023 and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, BETHLEHEM consists of the church’s choirmaster Lawrence Sammour and Beirut composers Saray Moussa and Abed Kobeissy. The music is a mixture of traditional liturgical hymns from the Greek Orthodox tradition sung in Arabic and an electroacoustic sound palette that includes drone, buzuq and other traditional instruments.
Knowing the history of this collaboration could lead one to have preconceived ideas about how the album will feel emotionally but do not go into this thinking you are in for a purely mournful experience. In fact, there is an extreme sense of defiance portrayed via the vocals of singer Sammour. There runs a thread of strength and grace as the musicians often centre the vocals, allowing the traditional hymns to be in a beautiful symbiotic dance with the more experimental passages of music. BETHLEHEM revel in dualities with pieces often going in directions that you are not prepared for. You are treated to the scatter-shot opening of ‘Buzuq For Four Hands (Live)’ before it settles into this swaying lurch of left/right turns. Improvisation feels like a core part of the recording process yet never once does the album feel like the musicians are lost or losing themselves in dead end tangents. Every string carries a story, every drone an emotional guide.
One of the more extraordinary features of this album is the way it manages to sound extremely futuristic yet seeped in history. This is not a postmodernist retelling of old stories, instead this is the future, shining a light on the past, helping to highlight the present. A beautiful balancing act, highlighted by the arrangements (‘Fasil II’ being an excellent case in point), BETHLEHEM rings every conceivable emotion out of the listener and it really does feel like this is music that HAS to be created and HAS to be shared. This is music as lifeforce and polemic, and whilst I personally would have liked to have had a few more pieces featuring Sammour’s voice (incredible throughout but especially on the album closer ‘Innay ouchahidou khidraka’) BETHLEHEM have delivered a bold, hugely emotive and complex album that warrants multiple listens and an open mind.
BETHLEHEM is out on 16th October via Constellation Records – pre-order now via Bandcamp on vinyl, CD and digital download.
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Review by Simon Tucker
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