Two years after the death of one of its founding members, Tinariwen return to present the repertoire of Amatssou, an album recorded between the Sahara and Los Angeles, somewhere between Tuareg blues and Americana.

Amatssou, the latest album from Tinariwen, the legendary Tuareg blues band, has a number of transatlantic echoes: a discreet banjo playing sixteenth notes in the background, a country-tinged violin and a subtle pedal-steel guitar. In fact, it was in the United States, in Jack White’s studio in Nashville, that this opus should have been recorded. But because of the health crisis, everyone recorded separately (Djanet in Algeria, Los Angeles and Nashville) and then assembled the post-production work remotely, as is so often the case nowadays – covid or not. Although under North American influence, Amatssou, produced by Quebecer Daniel Lanois, keeps both feet in the sands of the Sahara, and the music remains absolutely and above all that of Tinariwen.