Imarhan

For 15 years, Tuareg culture has fascinated the world.

Their poetic, sacred songs inspire Western songwriters such as Kurt Vile and José Gonzales, while the virtuosity of their guitar playing captivates guitar heroes like Jimmy Page; finally, their spirituality and meditative hypnotism impress electronic music producers such as Four Tet.

With two albums, Imarhan has become an emblem of the new Tuareg generation, breathing a fresh wind into the Assouf, the desert blues.

Whereas most current Tuareg productions go into exile in the United States, the quintet led by Sadam is rooted in its culture, its city, the Tuareg capital open to the desert.

By creating Aboogi, their studio in the heart of Tamanrasset and the Hoggar, Imarhan becomes the spokesperson for the young Tuareg generation, long forgotten by the governments of the region.

With this third album, Aboogi, Imarhan works with the rites and ancestral heritage of the Tuareg. By bringing together the legendary Japanese poet (recently deceased) and the musician-storyteller Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Imarhan aims to unite.

When they record with Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals, their brilliant and universal songwriting takes on its full meaning here.

By inviting Sudanese singer Sulafa Elyas, it becomes clear that Imarhan is open to all of Africa, champions of the Tuareg but above all spokespeople for the new African generation.

The songs speak of our bond with nature, of oppression, of lost youth but also, and above all, of hope and struggle, over sand-blown guitar riffs, mesmerising choirs and lyrics in the form of poetry of the wide open spaces.