- Temet (Tamashek for connections), is the second album for this young, five-piece band who make their home in Tamransset, Southern Algeria – a long established community of the displaced Tuareg. The result of an eight year long loose association of friends playing together, their self – titled debut in 2016 heralded them as the “new wave of Tuareg music” and was a more passionately meditative and soulful take on the western ideas ‘desert blues’.
Their front man Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane aka Sadam is a cousin to Tinariwen’s Eyadou Ag Leche who guided, produced & co-wrote several songs for their debut. Imarhan (Tamashek for the ones I care about) for Temet set about updating and reflecting their connections to the cultural & generational differences of the more high profile of the ‘desert blues’ genre like Tinariwen, Bombino, Tamikrest and more recently Songhoy Blues.
The Tuareg music-scape has broadened its appeal since Tinariwen drew us into the loping camel-gait rhythms of the nomadic cultures of the desert peoples of the Sahara. The separation -physically & spiritually- from their homeland in north Mali is evident in their undertones of a more subtle Saharan trad-folk and overtoned blend of West African funk & Algerian Rai.
Temet, creatively & production wise is a remarkable step forward that firmly sets them further away from the mesmerising desert blues tradition. Reliance on well-known producers and guests is not their bag, more importantly they draw on their song writing skills and bonds to family and community. Tastier guitar-fuzz, funkier rhythms with disco & rock to drive and bounce them along has been driven by their growing touring experiences.
If you'r looking for a single song to encompass these changes, Ehad wa dagh is a short punk rock race which might as well be the signature of the new attitude of Imarhan. From their opening first single Azzaman to the folky blues closing two cuts Zinizjumegh & Ma S-Abok, Imarhan have opened the door to the rest of the world of a new generation living in the desert connecting us all more intimately to this satisfying and compelling rhythmic & trance inducing psychedelic guitar driven hybrids of the Saharan landscapes.
- Rick Heritage.
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