(MENAFN) Lebanese musician Karl Mattar was in Berlin working on his third album, "Our House Is Very Beautiful At Night," under his project Interbellum when the Beirut port explosion took place on August 4, 2020. Before the blast, Mattar had already been exploring the theme of intergenerational trauma as a phantom, inspired by the writings of Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok. The explosion influenced his album and informed its themes.
Mattar explained that the explosion was not the genesis of the album, but it shaped it. Some of the works by Lebanese artists, including himself, that were created before the blast have become almost prophetic. The previous album by Interbellum had a track titled "Some Ghosts," which fits the current situation in Lebanon.
According to Mattar, the explosion did not occur out of the blue, but rather emerged from previous events, like a symptom. The album explores the cycle of things always repeating and the idea that ghosts that have always been there are being unlocked. Mattar's interest in themes of memory, nostalgia, and personal baggage from his childhood led him to explore the concept that we have to learn to live with our respective ghosts.
He further added that personal trauma is a microcosm of societal trauma, reflecting the nuclear family and the state and society. He described it as a Russian doll thing. Through his album, Mattar aims to shed light on the intergenerational trauma that affects many people in Lebanon and encourage them to come to terms with it.
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