Will Elissa drop a new single this week?

The Lebanese pop-star took to social media to announce that a new track is in the works

Lebanese singer Elissa will perform an online concert on the Shahid VIP platform. Getty Images

Elissa is set to be the first major Arab star to drop new music during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Lebanese singer took to social media this week to confirm that she will release a new single soon.

When? Well, according to industry chatter, the tune could arrive as early as this week.

Although Elissa hasn't revealed the song title, she may have possibly hinted at it on her Instagram account. The post, which has a performance picture, carried the words “Hanaghani kaman wa kaman”: a poetic way to say "we shall sing again and again”.

The new song will go some way to soothe disappointed fans after Elissa's recent decision to delay the release of her much-anticipated album.

Originally set to be released during the Eid Al Fitr holidays this year, the follow up to 2018's successful Ila Kol Elli Bihebbouni will have a decidedly Egyptian flavour, with Elissa collaborating with composers Mohammed Rahim and Nader Abdullah, as well as lyricist Amir Teima.

When that album does eventually come out, fans and the music industry will be watching to see if Elissa intends to follow through with her statement that it will be her last.

The pop-star shocked fans last August when she took to Twitter to state that her upcoming project would be her final album. Although yet to fully explain her reasoning, her post indicated she felt creatively stifled by a regional music industry she described as a "mafia".

Another sore point for Elissa is her claim – made in another tweet in October 2018 – that her work had been "blocked" by Rotana Music.

The Saudi record label, also home to the music of Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi and Iraqi crooner Kadim Al Sahir, removed her catalogue from the streaming platform Anghami (where she had racked up over 500 million plays) in favour of Deezer due to a joint deal.

Whatever happens later on in her career, the stage is certainly set for Elissa to make a dramatic return to the limelight at some point in 2020.

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Read more:

From Najwa Karam to Elissa: how Arab pop-stars are playing their part in the fight against the coronavirus

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