Tuareg quintet Imarhan are gearing up to release their third album, Aboogi, on January 28 via City Slang. (Abooji is also the name of their studio in the Tamanrasset area.) The record features a number of collaborations, including Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys on “Adar Newlan.” It's a sublime merger of styles, voices and languages that really soars.
Gruff and Imarhan met at one of Damon Albarn's Africa Express shows in London. “My time at Aboogi with Imarhan was unforgettable," Gruff says. "We hid from the sun and drank hot strong tea in the orange tent within the studio’s outdoor compound and exchanged musical ideas. New friends singing in multiple languages; Tamasheq, Welsh, French, English, Arabic drifted on the air from the studio door into the yard. Songs seemed to flow and grow quickly and effortlessly in these conditions. Right where the city meets the mountains, and where you can glimpse both worlds, capped by the ceiling of their gigantic sky - without barely moving your head.“