Beirut-Based Trio Prefaces Drops Surf Rock EP ‘Acqua Marina’

Lebanese indie trio Prefaces has recently released their sophomoric album, ‘Acqua Marina’, a sun-soaked instrumental record for off-season beach vibes.

Prefaces is made up of three key figures in Lebanon’s alternative scene: Charif Megarbane, the creative force and multi-instrumentalist behind the project, Salim Naffah, the guitarist and ensemble player of the dream-pop instrumentals Alko B, and Pascal Semerdjian, the drummer for the prominent shoegaze/pop trio Postcards and post-rock outfit SANAM.

While the band’s debut album, ‘Hippodrome’, relied more on improvisation and experimentation with surf rock, their latest offering, ‘Acqua Marina’, seems more deliberate in tone and form, showcasing a more mature sound for the trio. Each of the musicians contributes their diverse and distinctive tones, distilling elements from vintage surf rock and library music with psychedelic post-rock aesthetics and Levantine textures.

Released on Ruptured and Hisstology records, the album is sonically shaped around the recurring imagery of abandoned pools, empty beach clubs and deserted resort towns across Lebanon’s shorelines. Across the 11 tracks, the group incorporates sonic cues from prominent guitarists and musicians, the likes of Omar Khorsid, Ennio Morricone, and Khruangbin Allah-Las, with melancholic undertones and ambient reverb-laced grooves, to touch on themes of faded glamour and seasonal drift.