Mdou Moctar

One of Tuareg music’s most prominent writer and performer, Mdou Moctar revisits the desert ballads he’d written long before we heard about him.

While the sound of guitar has been always central to the music of Tuareg people, in the case of Mdou Moctar it’s often the only arrangement he needs to convey his stories about love, religion, and wisdom.

His new album “Sousoume Tamachek“, has another intense feature – its intense introversion. The record often sounds like a demo recorded in front of a house with a stereotypical view on the Saharan desert.

Actually, Mdou has written and recorded this material all by himself, so if you feel as if you’re peeking into his intimate bedroom rehearsal – it’s quite the right feeling.

The 31 year old musician started his “official” career almost 10 years ago with the debut album called “Anar“, and this new relase is opened with a song of the same title – and includes more songs from Mdou’s youth. “Sousoume Tamachek” revisits his early compositions that often haven’t received proper studio treatment before.

It’s a slow-life music, honest in its simplicity and strong, in spite of the fact – or maybe thanks to it – that the Tuareg guitarist and singer has no intent of imposing his stories on the listener. It’s just waiting for you to notice it, move your attention, and finally immerse yourself in all those abstract, but somehow intuitively understandable Tamasheq poetry.

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