Mdou Moctar have released a new single and video, ‘Imouhar’, taken from the group’s forthcoming album, Funeral For Justice, out May 3rd on Matador. A hypnotic rock song building to a feverish crescendo, ‘Imouhar’ calls on the Tuareg people to which the band belong to preserve their Tamasheq language – it’s at risk of dying out, and Moctar is one of the few in his community who knows how to write it. “People here are just using French,” says Mdou. “They’re starting to forget their own language. We feel like in a hundred years no one will speak good Tamasheq, and that’s so scary for us.” Watch the video, directed by Laura Greenhall, below
In April, the band will return to the US to perform at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. In June, they will launch US and European headlining tours with festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Green River, Glastonbury, and End of the Road, among others. Find a complete itinerary below.
Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2019 breakout Afrique Victime, Funeral For Justice captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down.
TRACKLIST
1. Funeral For Justice
2. Imouhar
3. Takoba
4. Sousoume
5. Imagerhan
6. Tchinta
7. Djallo #1
8. Oh France
9. Modern Slaves
LIVE DATES
April 14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
April 21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
June 5 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club
June 6 – Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar at ABC
June 7 – Richmond, VA @ Cheers Brown’s Island
June 8 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
June 9 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
June 11 – Charleston, SC @ Pour House
June 12 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
June 13 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
June 14 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
June 15 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
June 18 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
June 19 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
June 20 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
June 21 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
June 22 – Greenfield, MA @ Green River Music Festival
June 23 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
June 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
June 27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
June 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
July 3 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
July 7 – Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole
August 19 – Berlin, DE @ Festaal Kreuzberg
August 20 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Kreuzberg
August 21 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
August 22 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia Summer Stage
August 25 – Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
August 26 – Antwerp, BE @ OLT Revierenhof
August 27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
August 30 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
August 31 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
September 1 – Birmingham, UK @ Moseley Folk Festival
September 2 – Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
September 3 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
September 4 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Clu
