Daou is the music project of Paris-based architect, musician and multidisciplinary artist Georges Daou. Born in Beirut, he moved to New York in 2014, where he honed his guitar skills at the hands of renowned jazz guitarist Dom Minasi, all the while working as an architect and pursuing various artistic projects and collaborations. Daou's collage and photography work has been exhibited in Beirut, London, Washington and New York. His 3D art has been published in leading 3D magazines and websites.
Daou moved to Paris in 2018, and soon thereafter began working in earnest on his first album, entitled “Subliminal”. A guitarist by trade and tape enthusiast from an early age, he began experimenting with tape loops, synths and field recordings alongside his trusted guitar and effect pedals. These experiments yielded immersive ambient soundscapes and drones, which he would often color with lo-fi textures and sonic artefacts generated by acoustic instruments and found objects. Recorded in small creative bursts between October 2018 and November 2019, Daou eventually released “Subliminal” in August 2020 for the label Owl Encounter. The album premiered on French webzine Le Bombardier, and went on to be selected as one of the best albums of 2020 by online cultural platform Beehype.
Daou's second album "Sanctuary", released via Lebanese indie label Ruptured, sees the musician pursuing his experiments with tapes, field and ambient recordings -- refining his granular soundscapes to their barest components, then expertly layering them all over again, in a consistent and contained process of sonic juxtaposition and repetition. The album relies on tape loops, guitars, field recordings and tune forks processed with effect pedals - it details its protagonist’s lone journey towards mental and physical sanctuary, away from technology, society and everyday routines. The disembodied voice of Brian Robert acts as both beacon and leitmotiv, gently guiding the listener through a hallucinatory maze of repressed memories and haunted recollections.
Daou's third album, "Reverie," was released via the Berlin-born, Italian-based label Rohs! Records. It was inspired by a distant memory from his childhood in the Lebanese mountains, recounting the story of a destitute old lady who once lived beneath the watchtower in an abandoned house, alone with her cow. Daou used his trusty set of dictaphones to record extensively in the French outdoors, attempting to capture the sound of a past that is long gone. Along with a selection of synths, guitars, and effect pedals, the juxtaposition of sonic layers and ambient pads brought forth this acclaimed record.