A deeply personal 14-track album, independently produced under E-Records and launched through a new global partnership with Believe Artist Services.
A launch campaign spanning New York’s Times Square and the Arab world.
Collaborations with leading Arab songwriters and composers, complemented by the world-class audio expertise of Bernie Grundman Mastering.
BEIRUT, November 5, 2026: Lebanese superstar Elissa has released her highly anticipated 14th album, ELISSAR, marking one of the most personal chapters of her career. By giving the album her birth name, the singer makes a musical statement, shaped by experience, artistic maturity and a renewed sense of creative freedom.
For more than a quarter of a century, Elissa has been one of the most distinctive and influential voices in Arab pop music. With ELISSAR, she revisits the musical sensibility that has defined her career and made her songs part of the emotional landscape of generations of listeners. That familiar intimacy now reflects the perspective of a woman more assured in her choices, whose experiences have deepened her understanding of life, love and the music through which she expresses herself.
ELISSAR: Creative Independence and a New Global Partnership with Believe Artist Services
ELISSAR is the second album Elissa has produced entirely through her own label, E-Records, reaffirming her artistic independence and her determination to shape her music on her own terms.
The release also marks her first partnership with global artist development company Believe, and its Artist Services. Bringing together Elissa’s established artistic legacy and Believe’s global expertise and distribution network, the partnership aims to strengthen her international presence and bring her music to audiences across global markets.
The album launch is further supported by two major partnerships with Spotify and Anghami, each celebrating Elissa’s enduring influence and her exceptional standing in Arab music.
The pre-release campaign began in partnership with Spotify through its EQUAL Arabia initiative, which recognizes women and their contributions to the music industry. Celebrating female strength and independence, the campaign featured Elissa’s portrait on a prominent billboard in New York’s Times Square.
Coinciding with the album’s release, Anghami joins the campaign through its Anghami Elite program, honoring Elissa’s remarkable career, star power and lasting influence on the Arab music scene.
Together, the two partnerships provide complementary support for ELISSAR’s international launch, highlighting the artist’s established connection with Arab audiences and her continued presence on the global music stage.
ELISSAR: A Return to Her Roots and a Declaration of Artistic Freedom
Behind the stage name Elissa is Elissar Zakaria Khoury, the artist’s birth name and a reflection of her personal identity.
The name also evokes Elissa, the legendary Phoenician princess of Tyre who is credited with founding Carthage and whose story has endured as a symbol of courage, resilience and independence.
In a message to her fans, the singer explained the deeply personal significance of her album’s title:
“Elissar is more than just my real name. It is the name that carries my story, my identity, every version of myself I have been and every version I have yet to become.”
Two years in the making, ELISSAR emerged from a period marked by challenges and difficult circumstances. Throughout that journey, Elissa remained committed to protecting her artistic vision, ultimately reaching what she has described as a sense of liberation: the freedom to create music that reflects her own convictions and identity.
That philosophy is captured in the album’s guiding statement: Back to Basics.
It signals a return to the foundations of songwriting, where the voice, melody and emotional truth of a performance take precedence. For Elissa, the lasting value of music lies in its sincerity and its ability to move people, beyond chart positions, streaming numbers and passing trends.
Fourteen Songs, One Album, and the Freedom to Discover
The release strategy for ELISSAR is a deliberate extension of its artistic philosophy.
Elissa has chosen to release all 14 tracks simultaneously, without promoting any one song above the others and without an accompanying music video at launch.
Rather than directing listeners toward a predetermined lead single, this approach places the album itself at the center of the experience. Each song is given an equal opportunity to resonate, inviting audiences to explore the full collection and discover their own favorites.
It is an invitation to experience the music on personal terms: to find the song that speaks to a particular memory, emotion or moment in life, and to return to the album through different listening journeys. In this way, every track is free to develop its own relationship with the audience.
The album features nine songs in Egyptian Arabic, four in Lebanese Arabic and one in Gulf Arabic. This linguistic and musical range brings the melodic spirit of early-2000s Arab pop into dialogue with contemporary sounds and arrangements.
Throughout the album, Elissa’s unmistakable voice provides the unifying thread, lending each song its emotional depth and distinctive character.
Artistic Collaborations Shaping the Album’s Musical Identity
For ELISSAR, Elissa brings together some of the Arab world’s most respected lyricists, composers and arrangers, reuniting with longtime collaborators while welcoming fresh creative perspectives.
Together, they have created a varied repertoire in which each song has its own musical identity while contributing to the album’s overall artistic coherence.
Among the most notable collaborations is her reunion with acclaimed Lebanese singer-songwriter Marwan Khoury, with whom she shares a long history of musical success. The two artists come together on three new Lebanese-language songs: Atini Ghamra and Matarat, both written and composed by Khoury, and Baddi Yak, composed by Khoury with lyrics by Ali El Mawla.
These songs revisit the melodic sensitivity and artistic chemistry that have distinguished their previous work together.
Elissa also reunites with lyricist Mohamed Refai on Yeblik Bel Hob, composed by Ahmed Ibrahim.
Tamer Ashour composes Habbatal Aheb and Weshi Nawar, both written by Nader Abdallah, while Aziz El Shafei contributes the music for Kashf El Hisab, also written by Nader Abdallah, and writes and composes El Ouda El Dalma.
The album’s creative range is further reflected in Leil Ya Leil, written by Malak Adel and composed by Mohamed Yehia, a song filled with optimism and the promise of happiness.
Sahla El Aziya, written by Ahmed Raoul and composed by Ahmed Zaeem, takes a more assertive approach, exploring dignity and the courage to break free from a painful relationship.
Other contributions include the poetic writing of Amir Teima, set to music by Walid Saad on Ehtimal; the lyrical sensitivity of Siham El Shaashaa, complemented by Ayman Kmeha’s composition on Weadny; and the emotionally grounded writing of Ahmed El Malki, set to music by Mohamed Yehia on Ma Tlaenash.
Arrangements by Hadi Sharara, Ahmed Ibrahim, Tamim and Jalal Hamdaoui, among others, give the songs their individual musical textures while maintaining the album’s cohesive sound.
Familiar Emotions, a Newfound Clarity
Love has always occupied a central place in Elissa’s music. On ELISSAR, she once again explores its many dimensions, from passion and devotion to disappointment, separation and renewal.
This time, however, those familiar emotions are expressed through the perspective of a woman who has learned to acknowledge her wounds, understand the consequences of her choices and find the strength to rebuild.
Across the album’s 14 tracks, individual stories unfold and intersect, creating an emotional journey in which listeners may recognize moments from their own lives.
The album opens with Leil ya Leil (lyrics by Malak Adel, music by Mohamed Yehia), a luminous song in which happiness feels like the reward for a long journey shared by two people who have persevered through hardship. Its sense of joy gives way to the resolve of Habbatal Aheb (lyrics by Nader Abdallah, music by Tamer Ashour), where a woman exhausted by an unequal relationship chooses to end her suffering and reclaim her peace of mind.
In Baddi Yak (lyrics by Ali El Mawla, music by Marwan Khoury), love persists in memory long after circumstances have changed. One of the song’s most striking images compares the heart to a matchstick that ignites only once in a lifetime. By contrast, Kashf El Hisab (lyrics by Nader Abdallah, music by Aziz El Shafei) confronts the anger born of betrayal, as accumulated wounds bring a relationship to a moment of reckoning.
Cheta El Riyadh (lyrics by Abdallah Al Melhem, music by Rami El Shafei, arrangements by Omar Sabbagh) holds a special place in the collection as Elissa’s first original song performed in Gulf Arabic. Set against a winter landscape where rain stirs memories of an absent lover, the song captures the tension between the longing for reunion and the decision to walk away. Its evocative imagery introduces the poetic sensibility and musical traditions of the Gulf to Elissa’s romantic repertoire.
In Matarat (lyrics and music by Marwan Khoury), cities and journeys pass without diminishing the memory of a loved one. Physical distance offers little protection against feelings that refuse to fade.
Ma Tlaenash (lyrics by Ahmed El Malki, music by Mohamed Yehia) explores the gradual breakdown of a relationship strained by misunderstandings and irreconcilable differences, until separation becomes necessary to preserve one’s sense of self.
With Sahla El Aziya (lyrics by Ahmed Raoul, music by Ahmed Zaeem), strength takes the form of refusing revenge. Rather than returning the hurt she has suffered, the woman at the center of the song chooses to move forward and free herself from the influence of the person who wounded her.
Yeblik Bel Hob (lyrics by Mohamed Refai, music by Ahmed Ibrahim) approaches heartbreak from a different angle, blending tenderness with irony. Its central wish is that the person responsible for the pain should fall in love in turn, and finally come to understand both the joy and anguish that love can bring.
Ehtimal (lyrics by Amir Teima, music by Walid Saad) ventures into a dreamlike world, imagining two souls whose connection may have begun in another lifetime. Images of the sea, stars and mountains lend the song an almost mythical sense of love transcending time.
The mood then brightens with Weshi Nawar (lyrics by Nader Abdallah, music by Tamer Ashour), a celebration of love’s transformative power: the kind of happiness that lights up a face, changes the smallest details of everyday life and restores a sense of joy.
In Atini Ghamra (lyrics and music by Marwan Khoury), two lovers facing an inevitable separation attempt to hold on to the tenderness of their relationship through one final embrace. The intimacy of that fleeting moment captures both the beauty of what they have shared and the sorrow of what they are about to lose.
Weadny (lyrics by Siham El Shaashaa, music by Ayman Kmeha) offers a gentler vision of love, where the promise of staying becomes a promise of security. The loved one is imagined as a home, a refuge and a place of belonging.
The album closes with El Ouda El Dalma (lyrics and music by Aziz El Shafei), one of its darkest and most emotionally complex songs.
An unlit room becomes a metaphor for a relationship in which attachment is entangled with fear, suffering and the gradual loss of self. The final track confronts one of love’s most painful contradictions: finding the courage to leave a relationship that causes harm, even when the feelings have not disappeared.
Together, these 14 songs offer a nuanced portrait of human relationships, balancing emotional vulnerability with inner strength. Pain becomes a source of understanding; separation can open the way to freedom, and the capacity to love remains an expression of courage and maturity, even after disappointment.
An International Sonic Signature: Bernie Grundman Mastering
The mastering of ELISSAR was entrusted to the acclaimed American studio Bernie Grundman Mastering, founded by Bernie Grundman, one of the most respected mastering engineers in the international music industry.
Grundman’s career includes work on some of the most influential albums in modern popular music, among them Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Off the Wall, and Prince’s Purple Rain and 1999.
Known for its exacting approach to sound quality, dynamic range, tonal richness and instrumental balance, the studio brings a level of technical refinement that supports the album’s artistic vision.
The mastering is designed to preserve the subtleties of Elissa’s voice, allowing the nuances of each performance and the emotional character of every song to emerge with clarity and depth.
Fourteen Albums and a Story Elissa Continues to Write Herself
Since the release of her debut album, Baddi Doub, in 1998, Elissa has built a body of work that spans generations, with songs that hold a special place in the emotional memories of her listeners.
With ELISSAR, she continues that journey while asserting her artistic freedom with renewed confidence. The singer audiences have known since the beginning meets the woman shaped by years of experience, more certain of her choices and more deeply committed than ever to the music that reflects who she is.
ELISSAR is a return to self, to emotion and to the musical essence that has always defined her story.
ELISSAR — Back to Basics
About Believe
Believe is one global artist development company. We empower local independent artists, songwriters, labels, and publishers to scale their businesses and grow audiences at each stage of their career with expertise, respect, fairness, and transparency. Operating in over 50 countries with more than 2,000 employees, Believe provides a full range of services across recording, publishing, and distribution, offering bespoke solutions engineered for long-term career growth to champion creative independence. We nurture emerging talent and shape the future of local music scenes through our own brands. This unique model pairs on-the-ground local market intelligence with a cutting-edge global technology platform, maximizing royalty optimization and global reach through privileged partnerships with leading streaming platforms. Believe is a simplified joint-stock company under French law.
Learn more at www.believe.com