More than 45 years into their journey, Tinariwen have announced their tenth studio album, Hoggar, out March 13 via their own label, Wedge. The record looks back to the core of their sound, while also making space for younger Tuareg musicians to be part of the story.
Alongside the announcement, the band has released “Sagherat Assani,” featuring the voice of Sulafa Elyas, a Sudanese singer and oud player now living in exile in France. The song arrives with an animated video by Axel Digoix, and it carries a history that reaches beyond the band’s own catalogue.
As guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni explains, “Sagherat Assani” is a traditional Sudanese song that made its way to the Sahara through travel and friendship. He traces it back to 1989, when he and band co-founder Japonais (who died in 2021) were in Al Kufrah, near the border between Sudan and Libya. At the time, Abdallah was just starting to learn guitar. They heard a local musician playing the song, loved it, and kept it alive by learning it and playing it again and again, until it became something that could travel.
The single also underlines the place of women’s voices in Tuareg music, something producer Patrick Votan says is becoming harder to protect. He notes that female singing and training are increasingly restricted in parts of the region, making it more difficult to find and support women performers. For Hoggar, the band worked with singers including Sulafa Elyas, as well as Wonou Walet Sidati, who previously recorded and toured with the group, and Nounou Kaola, who also appears on the album.
Hoggar was recorded in Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria, at a studio set up by next-generation Tuareg band Imarhan. Compared to the wider, more outward-looking collaborations on their previous record, Amatssou, these sessions were built around local community and shared experience. Founding members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, and Touhami Ag Alhassane worked alongside younger artists, writing songs shaped by political unrest and the pressures facing the nomadic Tuareg people, particularly in Mali.
One detail stands out for longtime listeners: for the first time in over 30 years, Ibrahim and Abdallah sing together on the same tracks. The 11-song album also includes a guest appearance from José González, and a reunion with co-founder Liya ag Ablil (Diarra) for the first time in 25 years.
Tinariwen will support the release with a world tour starting next month in India, before moving through Europe and the United Kingdom. The band also shared their disappointment that they won’t be able to perform in North America this year due to travel restrictions outside their control, but say they intend to return to the as soon as they can.
