Imarhan

For 15 years, Tuareg culture has fascinated the world.

Their poetic, sacred songs inspire Western songwriters like Kurt Vile or 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.

In two albums, Imarhan has become an emblem of the new Tuareg generation, breathing new life into Assouf, the desert blues.

While the majority of current Tuareg productions are exiled in the United States, the quintet led by Sadam remains rooted in their culture, their city, the Tuareg capital with open doors 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, largely forgotten by the region's governments. With this third album, Aboogi, Imarhan manipulates Tuareg rites and ancestral traditions.

By bringing together the legendary Japanese poet (recently deceased) and the musician-storyteller Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Imarhan aims to unite.

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

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

They speak of the connection to nature, oppression, lost youth, but also, and above all, of hope and struggle, set to sandy guitar riffs, enchanting choruses, and lyrics in the form of poetry of the great outdoors.