Tuareg performer Mdou Moctar has announced a new studio album called Afrique Victime, which is set to be released on May 21 via Matador Records. The artist has also released a new music video for “Tala Tannam,” which was shot in Niamey, Niger last year, during the visit of Mdou Moctar’s touring bassist Mike Coltun. This will be Modou Moctar’s first Matador album release.
“Tala Tannam” is a heartfelt love letter to Niamey and the larger Dosso region, showing Moctar and Coltun venturing around the village and its outskirts. The song is filled with soothing vocals that discuss love, while its infectious electric guitars show off Saharan flairs and rock elements.
“While the song talks about love, we wanted to show the love between friendships and the love of Niger,” Coltun explained in a press release. “The video includes friends and family –in the Tuareg community in villages around Niamey as well as Hausa people from villages in the Dosso region.”
Inspired by traditional Tuareg melodies and the guitar work of rock icon Eddie Van Halen, Mdou Moctar used both of these elements to create his own style. In addition to being heavily involved in music, Mdou Moctar is also active in film, producing and starring in the first Tuareg-language film, Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, a remake of Purple Rain. which translates to “Rain The Color Of Blue With A Little Red In It.” Since the release of the film, Mdou Moctar made an appearance at Desert Daze in 2019 and teamed up with Matt Sweeney and Bonnie “Prince” Billy for “Hall of Death.”
Afrique Victime tracklist
1. Chismiten
2. Taliat
3. Ya Habibti
4. Tala Tannam
5. Untitled
6. Asdikte Akal
7. Layla
8. Afrique Victime
9. Bismilahi Atagah
Leave a Comment