Tinariwen Reveal New Single "Kel Tinawen" feat. Cass McCombs
Amadjar - the new album from the Grammy award-winning Tuareg musicians Tinariwen, coming out September 6 – was recorded in southern Morocco, accompanied by an old camper van that was converted into a makeshift studio. Every evening, the caravan stopped to set up camp and the members of Tinariwen got to work under the stars to prepare for the recording, talking things through, letting their guitar motifs, thoughts and long buried songs come. Then, during a final two-week camp in the desert around Nouakchott, the band, joined by The Mauritanian griotte Noura Mint Seymali and her guitarist husband, Jeiche Ould Chigaly, recorded their songs under large tent in a few live takes, without headphones or effects.
Witness the band’s nomadic recording process in their new music video for the track “Kel Tinawen” feat. Cass McCombs, out today. The song “Kel Tinawen” is about the Tuareg rebellion and its detractors. Tinariwen’s founding member Ibrahim Ag Alhabib denounces treachery and corruption and puts the stress on Tamasheq people’s resilience: they will always stay true to their beliefs, never give up and never forget their past.
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Once the members of Tinariwen had finished recording, a host of Western musicians added instrumentation to the record including violin from Warren Elllis of the Bad Seeds, mandolin and charango courtesy of Micah Nelson, and guitars from Stephen O’Malley(Sunn O)))), Cass McCombs and Rodolphe Burger. This nomadic album, recorded in a natural setting, is as close as you can get to the ‘soul’ of Tinariwen, a group of musicians that in every sense exist far-beyond their 17-year tenure and extensive discography of critically acclaimed albums.
Tinariwen will be touring extensively this fall, with US dates beginning September 12 and European dates beginning October 16. Their US headlining tour includes performances at NYC’s Webster Hall, Chicago’s Thalia Hall and The Mayan in LA as well as a performance at Los Angeles’s Hollywood Bowl opening for Vampire Weekend; all upcoming dates are listed below.
TOUR DATES
9/12 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre ^
9/13 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall ^
9/14 – Dallas, TX – Canton Hall ^
9/16 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse ^
9/17 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Ramkat ^
9/19 – Washington D.C. – Lincoln Theatre ^
9/20 – Boston, MA – Royale ^
9/21 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
9/22 – North Adams, MA – Freshgrass Festival
9/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
9/26 – Quebec City, Canada – L’Imperial Bell
9/27 – Montreal, Canada – QC Mtelus
9/28 – Toronto, Canada – Danforth Music Hall
9/30 – Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom ^
10/1 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
10/2 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl w/ Vampire Weekend
10/4 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
10/5 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
10/7 – Seattle, WA – Taper Auditorium
10/8 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/9 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom ^
10/11 – San Francisco, CA – The UC Theatre ^
10/12 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up
10/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Mayan ^
^ with Lonnie Holley
10/16 – Argenteuil, France – Le Figuier Blanc
10/17 – Quimper, France – Theatre de Cornouailles
10/18 – Tours, France – Le Temps Machine
10/19 – Nantes, France – La Barakason
10/20 – La Rochelle, France – La Sirene
10/22 – Hérouille, France – Big Band Cafe
10/23 – Paris, France – Casino de Paris
10/24 – Lyon, France – Le Radiant
10/25 – Moissac, France – Uvarium
10/26 – Antwerp, Belgium – Trix
10/27 – Leuven, Belgium – Het Depot
10/28 – Copenhagen, Denmark
10/29 – Aarhus, Denmark – Aarhus Train
10/30 – Dusseldorf, Germany – Zhaak
10/31 – Berlin, Germany – Festaal Kreuzberg
11/2 – Oslo, Norway – Oslo World Music Festival
11/3 – Gothenberg, Sweden – Goteborgs Symfoniker
11/4 – Stockholm, Sweden
11/6 – Nijmegen, Holland – Doornroosje
11/8 – Winterthur, Switzerland – Salzhaus
11/9 – Florence, Italy – Centro Flog
11/10 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks
11/11 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia
11/12 – Bristol, UK – Trinity
11/13 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Cathedral
11/14 – London, UK – Earth
11/15 – London, UK – Earth
11/16 – Metz, France – Le Bam