Tinariwen’s traces of the past

THE TOUAREG GROUP has just put out a superb showcase of demos and previously unreleased material of a rare, raw beauty that can only be called ACTIVIST AND AUTHENTIC.

​​​​​​​Following their excellent last album, Amatssou, reviewed and praised in this magazine, Tinariwen embarked on a successful international tour... and rummaged through their cupboards to unearth some superb tracks, now brought together in the album Idrache (‘traces of the past’). While most of them are known in their arranged, produced or finished forms, depending on the period, these demos, dating back some twenty years, bear witness to the authenticity of the Tinariwen sound, an electric, nostalgic and melodic manifestation of desert blues. And four previously unreleased tracks make this much more than a release dedicated to making up for the legendary band's silence, and much more of a celebration of the Sahara from whence they hail, and the vestiges of its past, while making it more relatable to us.