An evocative, stirring, atmospheric and moving sixth album of desert blues and rock by the Malian Kel Tamasheq (Touareg) band whose name means ‘connection’ or ‘union’ in Tamasheq and this title pointing to ‘voyage’ to chart their two-decade journey. Emerging under the influence of Tinariwen, and formed in 2006 by Ousmane Ag Mossa and Cheikh Ag Tiglia, both originally from Tinzawaten near the Mali-Algerian border, they have been a four-piece since joined by guitarist Paul Salvagnac in 2012, and percussionist Cédric ‘Momo’ Maurel in 2013 who variously plays the calabash, dhol, bendhir, tumba tumba, djembe and tube. This album shows a particular tonal shift. Drawing on years of touring and improvisation, the band chose to record live to analogue tape, but the subject matter still remains - exploration of exile, displacement and assouf – that untranslatable Tamasheq word encompassing nostalgia, longing and homesickness. Things have hardly improved - there has been a military junta in place since 2021, political opposition banned and media suppressed, the departure of a UN peacekeeping mission in 2023, the presence of the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps, and violence visited daily on an exhausted populace by jihadists, Malian forces and Russian paramilitaries. The music speaks for itself - electric and acoustic guitars, floating lap steel, thick dubby bass, hand percussion, calabash and a full drum kit, songs morphing from Ishumar rock and roll, to hypnotic folk meditations, with Ousmane’s tender, voice and storytelling leading the sound.
All tracks have an eerie, authentic, gentle power, from opener Adagh Oyanted with pulsing, slide guitars, about Mali’s mountainous northern region, with words that warn against the exploitation of ancestral lands. Aiytma co-written with poet Mahmoud Ag Ahmouden, is a deceptively gentle ballad that acts as a call to resistance (Cheikh likens it to a song you would sing in the trenches ‘to motivate your comrades’). Iman Derhan Nasn, meaning Faith and the Hope of the People reflects the band's poignant, poetic storytelling about resilience, builds from a gentle folk rhythm and fireside feel into extraordinarily strong distorted guitar laments. Previous Song of the Day Imanin opens with an eerie synth line by guest Belgian musician Wouter Van Asselbergh, before an onslaught of distorted guitars and relentless percussion transform it into the most raw and electric-sound. There’s a calmer air on Eillal (Mirage), which features the softly spoken words of Tinariwen’s Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, his first recorded collaboration with the band, and album closer Adounia is a tribute to the late Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka Japonais) of Tinariwen, one of Ousmane’s early mentors. Another gorgeous, important and powerful piece of work, capturing scandalous crisis and tragedy in a country often overlooked while other wars grab the headlines. Out on Glitterbeat Records.
Tamikrest
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