Tinariwen - Amatssou

Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on new album Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band’s trademark
snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel,
piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois, the embellished
arrangements lending the songs an epic, universal application.

Full of poetic allegory, the lyrics call for unity and freedom. There are songs of
struggle and resistance with oblique references to the recent desperate political
upheavals in Mali and the increasing power of the Salafists. “Dear brothers all
rest, all leisure will always be far from reach unless your homeland is liberated
and all the elders can live there in dignity,” Ibrahim Ag Alhabib sings on
‘Arajghiyine.’ The album’s title Amatssou is Tamashek for ‘Beyond The Fear’ and
it fits - Tinariwen have always been characterised by their fearlessness - and as
Bob Dylan once said, the power of rock’n’roll is that it makes us “oblivious to the
fear” as the music gives us the strength and resilience to confront adversity.

In the two decades since Tinariwen emerged from their base in the African
desert to tour the globe, they have got to know many renowned country, folk, and
rock musicians from the USA including Kurt Vile, Stephen O'Malley, Jack White,
and Wilco. Tuareg nomads and cowboy drifters. Camel trains and mustang horses. The timeless horizon of the endless Sahara and the wild frontier of the Old West - several thousand miles of ocean may divide the desert blues of Tinariwen and the authentic country music of rural America but the links are as palpable as they are romantic.

TRACKLISTING

Kek Alghalm
Tenere Den
Arajghiyine
Tidjit
Jayche Atarak
Imidiwan Mahitinam
Ezlan
Anemouhagh
Iket Adjen
Nak Idnizdjam

PRODUCT DETAILS

Artist:  Tinariwen
Label:  Wedge
Condition:  New 
Genre:  Latin, African & International
Format:  Vinyl LP
Cat Number:  WEDGELP0123C
Released:  19th May 2023