Amatssou, Tinariwen, CD

2023 release. Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band's trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel, piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois, the embellished arrangements lending the songs an epic, universal application. Full of poetic allegory, the lyrics call for unity and freedom. There are songs of struggle and resistance with oblique references to the recent desperate political upheavals in Mali and the increasing power of the Salafists.