The story of Amadjar – the new album from the Grammy award-winning Tuareg musicians Tinariwen – begins at the end of October 2018 at the Taragalte Festival of nomadic cultures in the Moroccan Sahara. Following their appearance at the festival, Tinariwen hit the road and head for Mauritania, via southern Morocco, Western Sahara and the Atlantic coast, to hook up with the singer Noura Mint Seymali and set up and record their new album there.
Listen to the first single “Taqkal Tarha” below featuring Micah Nelson, son of the country music giant Willie Nelson and Neil Young’s guitarist, the song has more of an American country sound than any other previous Tinariwen track.
Accompanied by their French production team, who arrive in old camper van that has been converted into a makeshift studio, Tinariwen’s journey to Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, takes a dozen days or so. Every evening, the caravan stopped to set up camp and the members of Tinariwen got to work under the stars to prepare for the recording, talking things through, letting their guitar motifs, thoughts and long buried songs come. Then, during a final two-week camp in the desert around Nouakchott, the band, joined by The Mauritanian griotte Noura Mint Seymali and her guitarist husband, Jeiche Ould Chigaly, recorded their songs under large tent in a few live takes, without headphones or effects.
Once recorded, a host of Western musicians added instrumentation including violin fromWarren Elllis of the Bad Seeds, mandolin and charango courtesy of Micah Nelson, and guitars from Stephen O’Malley (Sunn O)))), Cass McCombs and Rodolphe Burger.
This nomadic album, recorded in a natural setting, is as close as you can get to the ‘soul’ of Tinariwen, a group of musicians that in every sense, exist far-beyond their 17-year tenure and extensive discography of critically acclaimed albums.
Lyrically and thematically, the album explores the continuing political, social, humanitarian and environmental problems faced in their home country of Mali and continues Tinariwen’s pursuit to highlight the plight and issues of their people through their music. The album is an eloquent and moving work, specifically highlighting the on-going obstacles faced by their own Tuareg community as a consequence of everything from the collapse of infrastructure and public services, through climate change and the ongoing political and military conflict that has dogged the country since it gained independence in 1960.
Finally, Tinariwen will be touring extensively this year, with European dates in June and July as well as October and November. They will also embark on a US headlining tour in September that includes dates at NYC’s Webster Hall, Austin’s Paramount Theatre and Chicago’s Thalia Hall as well as a performance at Los Angeles’s Hollywood Bowl withVampire Weekend; all upcoming dates are listed below.
Photo by Marie Planeille
‘AMADJAR’ TRACK LISTING
1. Tenere Maloulat (feat. Warren Ellis)
2. Zawal (feat. Warren Ellis, Noura Mint Seymali, Jeiche Ould Chighaly)
3. Amalouna (feat. Noura Mint Seymali, Stephen O’Malley)
4. Taqkal Tarha (feat. Micah Nelson)
5. Anina
6. Madjam Mahilkamen
7. Takount (feat. Noura Mint Seymali)
8. Iklam Dglour (feat. Warren Ellis, Rodolphe Burger)
9. Kel Tinawen (feat. Cass McCombs)
10. Itous Ohar (feat. Cass McCombs)
11. Mhadjar Yassouf Idjan (feat. Warren Ellis)
12. Wartilla (feat. Warren Ellis, Stephen O’Malley)
13. Lalla
TOUR DATES
6/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
6/21 – Essaouira, Morocco – Festival Gnaoua
6/26 – Athens, Greece – Plissken Festival
6/29 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja
7/1 – Mons, Belgium – Dance Festival
7/2 – Milan, Italy – Tri-P Music Festival
7/3 – Rome, Italy – Villa Ada
7/13 – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall
7/14 – London, UK – Citadel Festival
7/16 – Galway, Ireland – Galway Festival
9/12 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre
9/14 – Dallas, TX – Canton Hall
9/16 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
9/17 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Ramkat
9/19 – Washington D.C. – Lincoln Theatre
9/20 – Boston, MA – Royale
9/21 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
9/22 – North Adams, MA – Freshgrass Festival
9/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
9/26 – Quebec City, Canada – L’Imperial Bell
9/27 – Montreal, Canada – QC Mtelus
9/28 – Toronto, Canada – Danforth Music Hall
9/30 – Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
10/1 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
10/2 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl w/ Vampire Weekend
10/4 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
10/5 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
10/7 – Seattle, WA – Taper Auditorium
10/8 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/9 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
10/11 – San Francisco, CA – The UC Theatre
10/12 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up
10/16 – Argenteuil, France – Le Figuier Blanc
10/17 – Quimper, France – Theatre de Cornouailles
10/20 – La Rochelle, France – La Sirene
10/23 – Paris, France – Casino de Paris
10/28 – Copenhagen, Denmark
10/29 – Aarhus, Denmark – Aarhus Train
10/30 – Dusseldorf, Germany – Zhaak
10/31 – Berlin, Germany – Festaal Kreuzberg
11/2 – Oslo, Norway – Oslo World Music Festival
11/3 – Gothenberg, Sweden – Goteborgs Symfoniker
11/4 – Stockholm, Sweden
11/11 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia
11/12 – Bristol, UK – Trinity
11/13 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Cathedral
11/14 – London, UK – Earth
