Imarhan

Imarhan's new album, "Essam", is out now on City Slang. Recorded at their Aboogi Studio in Tamanrasset, "Essam" (“lightning” in Tamasheq) moves beyond guitar-driven blues into something more open, modern, and exploratory. The album is co-produced by longtime collaborator Maxime Kosinetz alongside Emile Papandreou of French duo UTO and features local artists and friends who contributed handclaps and vocals. Since their formation in 2006, Imarhan - guitarist and vocalist Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane (Sadam), bassist Tahar Khaldi, guitarists Hicham Bouhasse and Abdelkader Ourzig, and percussionist Haiballah Akhamouk - have continually reshaped perceptions of Tuareg music. Building on the foundations of assouf (the desert...