Tamotaït

Description

Sometimes, music is louder than the notes played or the words sung. Sometimes, it’s a spirit that ignites and burns with a dazzling flame. Given the volatile and desperate political situation in the ancestral Saharan lands from which Tamikrest hails, Tamotaït is more than an album. It is a resistance. Tamotaït means the hope for positive change. Change, like the end of the fighting that plagues northern Mali. Change, like the possibility of thriving in their homeland, Azawad. It is music formed from thoughts, dreams, and collective experimentation. It is also music forged in exile. An exile that can signify the hope of return, as heard in the tracks "Amzagh" and "As Sastnan Hidjan," where Tamikrest sings of the possibilities available to the Kel Tamsheq people. On "Timtarin," the band is joined by Moroccan singer Hindi Zahra, with guitarist Paul Salvagnachas having been part of her group for several years. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Ousmane Ag Mossa composed "Tabsit" using traditional Japanese instruments during a visit to the archipelago with Japanese musicians Atsushi Sakta and Oki Kano. The tamasheq music here traverses different worlds shaped by the influences and encounters the group has experienced during its travels.