Emmaar is an album born from conflict and exile. Its creators, the Malian band Tinariwen, recently found themselves far from their home in the Sahara, where the desert lifestyle gave life to this band of Tuareg nomads. Displaced by Sharia law and its extremist enforcers, Tinariwen were forced to leave their homeland in Mali and take up residence in a more distant land: the Joshua Tree desert in California. It’s from there that Emmaar, their latest album, was recorded.
The new location has done little to dishearten their distinct sound, though. Western African beats and licks, vaguely reminiscent of electric blues (probably the same licks that gave birth to the blues way back when), roll through the album. The group shares vocals throughout, reciting poetry in their native Tuareg language that moves with the melody, rather than stands out. It’s an incredibly tight album of performances carried by artists who’ve been at it for years. With this musicianship alone, Emmaar carries enormous power.
Emmaar is even more powerful when its social context is added. It’s an electrified version of Tichumaren, a fiery style of guitar music from western Africa largely pioneered by Tinariwen. At its core, Tichumaren is politically critical, sometimes to the point of calling for revolution.
With Emmaar being an album born from exile after the Malian government fell, (which included a crackdown by a usurping extremist group that imprisoned one of Tinariwen’s members for “devil music,”) the album is as much a statement of defiance as it is a beautiful jam record.
With the relocation and turmoil behind Tinariwen’s latest album, it’s incredible how much of their traditional nomad musicianship is kept. During their travels in Mali, Tinariwen would take in local players to fill out their sound. Even in the move to America, they continue this tradition. Artists like Fats Kaplin (the fiddler behind the likes of Waylon Jennings and Jack White) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Josh Klinghoffer (that’s his spacy guitar on “Sendad Eghlalan”) appear throughout Emmaar, their additions flowing effortlessly with the rest of Tinariwen’s music.
Emmaar is an astounding piece of global music. It effortlessly captures the Tuareg’s culture, doing so in a time of struggle and turmoil. It’s a rebellious statement and a call of liberation. Music can be an incredibly powerful form of expression. Emmaar is exactly that.
Rating: A
