IMARHAN

IMARHAN have long been anointed as official heirs to Tinariwen’s desert-rock throne. Frontman Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane (aka Sadam) is the cousin of Tinariwen’s bassist Eyadou Ag Leche and has joined them as a touring member on occasion. The bond between the two bands continues on this album, with Tinariwen’s Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni and Mohammed Ag Itlale (aka Japonais) contributing guest vocals – the latter, poignantly, in his final recording session before his death in February.

While the music Imarhan make draws from the same well, combining blues and rock with Tuareg folksong and its distinct flavour of “assouf” (which’s first single and opening track, is markedly different. The band are dressed in traditional robes, seated around a campfire, picking out a doleful, hypnotic pattern on acoustic guitars. Although the song explodes into life with a holler halfway through – with the campfire tableaux giving way to scenes of exuberant sword-dancing and a jeep barrelling across the sand – the message is clear. This is a deliberate restatement of Imarhan’s Tuareg roots, a sign of their commitment to the music and traditions of their semi-nomadic people.