Tinariwen on What Inspired Their New Album ‘Amatssou’: ‘War Came to Our Doorstep’

On their ninth album Amatssou, Tinariwen – the Tuareg band known for using African music over country, blues and rock styles with guitars – look “beyond the fear,” as the LP’s title translates from Tamashek.

With the world finding itself constantly in major conflict across regions, Tinariwencall for unity and peace on Amatssou, an album that’s spirited, hypnotic and warm in its approach lyrically and sonically. There are country and blues influences aplenty, which gives it a different energy compared to their previous records.

They bring Amatssou to India after six years away from the country, last visiting in 2017. This time, Tinariwen will perform a headline set at Echoes of Earth festival in Bengaluru on December 2nd, followed by a club show at antiSOCIAL in Mumbai on December 3rd. Ahead of their shows, the band spoke with Rolling Stone India over an email interview.

Rolling Stone India: What is it like making your way back to India this time for two shows? What, if anything, has changed in Tinariwen’s live shows? 

Tinariwen: It’s great to be back in this part of the world where we don’t have many opportunities to go. Not so many changes since 2017, this time we will have Cheikh Ag Tiglia from [Malian rock group] Tamikrest on bass. We’re going to play songs from our last album Amatssou that came out earlier this year, and some oldies too of course.

Amatssou came out in May. What is it like playing sold-out shows in different parts of the world? Feels like after the pandemic, it’s a good reassurance, would you agree? 

Well, it looks like the pandemic didn’t make everyone forget about Tinariwen! We still have more and more people coming to the shows and buying our records, even if physical distribution is not what it used to be, people love merch.

Amatssou means “beyond the fear.” Who or what do you feel inspired this fearlessness for Tinariwen? 

War came to our doorstep recently, a lot of people have been displaced but Tuareg people don’t give up, we have to overcome our fears.

These are two very different settings for your India shows – one in a club and another at an open-air festival. What will you be doing differently? 

Nothing! We give everything we have no matter how large the audience is!

The new album, in terms of themes, explores some familiar and some new topics in your lyrics. What inspired writing about these new topics? 

The situation in our land is becoming more and more complicated. Our new songs are about our old fights and how we think of the future for our people and culture 

One of the constant sources of inspiration for Tinariwen is the desert. How do you find new ways to look at it each time? 

The desert is an endless source of inspiration for us, it is what we know best even though it’s always changing, it’s also where we feel at home so it’s an ideal setting to get creative. 

What is one favorite India memory you’ve had from your previous visits? 

No favorite moment but we were thrilled by the Indian audience and how they react/dance to our music. We feel a strong connection with [the] Indian audience, we feel they understand our grooves naturally

What is coming up for Tinariwen in 2024? 

Exclusive material and a lot of shows to be announced…

Tinariwen perform at Echoes of Earth Festival in Bengaluru on December 2nd. Tinariwen’s Mumbai concert takes place on December 3rd at antiSOCIAL, Lower Parel.