Mayssa Jallad is a singer-songwriter and urban researcher. She composes research-based music that investigates the violent transformation of cities, just as her first album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels. Anticipating her two concerts at Rewire – with her trio and with Civilistjävel! – Jallad will enter into a conversation with curator Katía Truijen on resonant urban histories, the voice as an instrument, and intergenerational forms of listening and sounding. 

Mayssa Jallad’s background as an architect and urban researcher shines through in her music: it is intentional, critical, detailed, and thoughtful – drawing on the hidden histories and events buried under the concrete and bustle of Lebanon’s urban sprawl. She has a particular interest in sharing difficult collective histories with post-war youths who haven’t had easy access to the stories of their cities – hoping that these tales, told anew in generous musical form, might regenerate or spur on a sense of urgency and change for populations held hostage to their historical violence. Her album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels explores an episode of urban warfare at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War wherein militias fought for domain across Beirut's skyscrapers.