Tinariwen on bridging Saharan blues with American country
thefader.comAmatssou, the new album from Tuareg desert blues pioneers Tinariwen, begins with a question. “Why so much silence, all over the world / Only spilt blood / Only brave men killed?,” Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni asks on its opener, “Kek Alghalm” (“The World”), in Tamasheq.
The record continues with a rallying cry, also in question form: “Don’t you know that the revolution / Has taken hold in the Adagh / That it is vigilant and keeps hold of its positions?,” Alhassane Ag Touhami sings on track two, “Tenere Den” (“Desert”).
The project’s next message is more decisive: “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 — the group’s founding father — proclaims on “Arajghiyine” (“The Traitors”)..
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