Tuareg musical pioneers and Grammy Award-winners Tinariwen have officially announced their tenth studio album, ‘Hoggar’, set for release on March 13th via the band’s own label, Wedge. More than 45 years into their storied career, the group returns to the foundations of their sound with a record that serves as both a homecoming and a passing of the torch.
To mark the announcement, the band has shared the new single ‘Sagherat Assani’, featuring the soulful, melismatic vocals of Sudanese artist Sulafa Elyas. The track is a traditional Sudanese song carried to the Sahara by band founders in 1989. Accompanied by an evocative animated video by Axel Digoix, the single highlights the vital role of female voices in Tuareg music—a tradition that producer Patrick Votan notes is increasingly under threat due to regional restrictions.
Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni: “Sagherat Assan” is a traditional song carried from Sudan to the Sahara. Japonais (one of the band founders who died in 2021) and myself were in Al Kufrah (a city at the border between Sudan and Libya) in 1989. At that time, I was beginning to learn the guitar. We met a musician who was playing this song. We loved it so much that Japonais learned it, then played it again and again, allowing it to travel and endure. This version features Sulafa Elyas, an outstanding Sudanese singer and oud player now living in exile in France”
Producer Patrick Votan: “The female voice is very important in traditional Tuareg music but it is increasingly hard to find female singers today owing to restrictions placed on them being allowed to sing and train. We were lucky to find singers like Sulafa as well as Wonou Walet Sidati, who used to record and tour with Tinariwen in the past, and Nounou Kaola, who also feature on this album.”
Recorded in the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset at a studio established by the next-generation Tuareg band Imarhan, ‘Hoggar’ eschews the high-profile Western collaborations of their previous record, Amatssou, to focus on the local Tuareg community. The sessions brought founding members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, and Touhami Ag Alhassane together with younger artists to pen songs of political unrest. In a historic first for the group, lead vocalists Ibrahim and Abdallah sing together on the same tracks for the first time in over 30 years.
Lyrically, the 11-track album explores urgent themes of social and political challenge facing northern Mali and the nomadic Tuareg people. The record also features a special guest appearance by longtime fan José González and a reunion with co-founder Liya ag Ablil (Diarra) for the first time in a quarter-century.
In support of the release, Tinariwen will embark on a worldwide tour beginning next month in India before heading to Europe and the UK. While the band expressed deep disappointment over their inability to perform in North America this year due to travel restrictions beyond their control, they remain committed to returning to the U.S. as soon as possible.
Pre-Order/Save: https://wedge.ffm.to/hoggar
Tinariwen ‘Hoggar’ Tour Dates:
10/04 – Seignosse, Le Tube
11/04 – Bilbao, Guggenheim
13/04 – Porto, Casa da Musica
14/04 – Lisbon, Lisboa Ao Vivo
16/04 – Madrid, Sala But
17/04 – Barcelona, La Paloma
18/04 – Nîmes, Paloma
20/04 – Milan, Alcatraz
21/04 – Rome, Auditorium Parco della Musica
22/04 – Padua, Hall
24/04 – Prague, Palac Akropolis
25/04 – Vienna, Arena
26/04 – Budapest, Akvárium Klub
28/04 – Krakow, Klub Studio
29/04 – Warsaw, Progresja
30/04 – Berlin, Huxley’s Neue Welt
05/05 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
07/05 – Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
08/05 – Paris, Cirque d’Hiver
09/05 – Paris, Cirque d’Hiver
11/05 – Rennes, Le MeM
12/05 – Toulouse, Le Bikini
13/05 – Bordeaux, Rocher de Palmer
15/05 – Sofia, Hall 3, NDK
16/05 – Athens, Floyd
18/05 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
19/05 – Gateshead, The Glasshouse
21/05 – Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms
22/05 – Manchester, O2 Ritz
24/05 – Bristol, Electric Bristol
25/05 – Dublin, 3Olympia Theatre
27/05 – Copenhagen, DR Koncertsalen
28/05 – Oslo, Rockefeller
29/05 – Gothenburg, Pustervik
30/05 – Stockholm, Borsen Live
Tickets: https://www.tinariwen.com/Tour