Tinariwen is a Tuareg band founded in 1979 in the Adrar des Ifoghas, in northern Mali. Pioneers of the assouf style (“nostalgia” in Tamasheq), they convey through their music the struggles, exile, and hopes of the Tuareg people. Their sound blends blues, Saharan traditions, and Arab influences, creating a unique musical identity that has left its mark on the international scene.
Fierce advocates for their people’s nomadic culture that exists in the desert borderlands between Mali and Algeria, Tinariwen’s bluesy, guitar-driven music has found global acclaim over the past two decades for its lively blend of Tamasheq-language politicism, syncopated rhythms and soaring melody. On Hoggar, their tenth album, they now stake their claim as elders of this Tuareg musical tradition, going back to their early years of songwriting with acoustic guitars and communal singing around the desert campfire, while also passing the torch onto a younger generation of featured musicians who can continue to keep the flame of rebellion and defiance alive.
Typically choosing to record their albums among the arid landscape of the Central Saharan desert and tuning into the sounds of nature as they find their melodies, the band has in recent years been forced to find new locations for their creativity due to the political unrest in Mali. With founding members of the band now relocated to Algeria they found a new home to record Hoggar in a studio set up by younger Tuareg band Imarhan in the southern city of Tamanrasset.