‘Sahel’ takes its name from the vast African region spanning East-West from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and is the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2018 album ‘Deran,’ which turned Bombino into the first-ever Grammy-nominated artist from Niger.
“Aitma” features Bombino’s sparks-spraying guitar pyrotechnics, punctuated by howling ululations. It's a plea for unity and solidarity across the Sahel, delivered in his native Tamasheq. “Let's defend our people because we are the same regardless of our geographical position,” he sings while shouting out the Tuareg people throughout the region.
To bring the ‘Sahel’ to life, Bombino worked closely with Welsh producer David Wrench (David Byrne, Frank Ocean, Caribou, Goldfrapp, The xx, Sampha), decamping with his bandmates to a studio in Casablanca for ten days to lay down the album. ‘Sahel’ is Bombino’s most personal, powerful, and politically-minded work yet. It’s also his most sonically diverse, a quality he set out to achieve from the start, and one that is meant to directly mirror the complex tapestry of cultures and people that make up the Sahel itself. He says, “the general plight of the Tuareg is always on my mind and while I’ve addressed it in my music all along, I wanted to give it a special focus on this album.”
The music ranges in theme from the plight of the Tuareg, to the ache of lost love, to the follies of youth. Opener “Tazidert,” which was released this spring, preaches patience even as the music itself urges you to stand up and move. Hushed acoustic closer “Mes Amis” sings of unrequited love, and is among the most subtle and beautiful entries in Bombino’s catalog. “It’s important to reflect the personal themes, to connect with people on a personal level, giving them stories and themes they can relate to,” Bombino says, adding that the extra time he spent at home during the pandemic, being with his children, helped to clarify his purpose while creating ‘Sahel.’ “Everything I do is in service to my family, to give to them and to better their situation.”
Elsewhere, ‘Sahel’ also contains some of Bombino’s most incisive commentaries to date, lamenting the divisions amid the Tuareg people, the risks of exile, and an even greater existential threat, the loss of Tuareg culture. “Even though geographically the Sahara desert is our home, so many of the Tuareg people are denied or deprived of certain basic necessities throughout the region,” he says. “This has been motivating me a lot, the types of songs I sing and why. I want to get people thinking about the Tuareg, to represent those people who haven’t been represented. They really need a voice.”
Read more about the creation of ‘Sahel’ here.
‘Deran’ earned Bombino career-best reviews, including a major New York Times profile, features with All Things Considered, NPR Music, Billboard + more. Noisey went as far as to declare him “World's Best Guitarist™”. The album received a Grammy nod for Best World Music Album, and also won Best Global Album at the A2IM Libera Awards. Bombino has performed at Bonnaroo, Coachella, Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Roskilde, and Newport Folk Festival, and two of his previous albums were produced by Dave Longstreth (Dirty Projectors) and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys). His list of on-the-record fans includes: Keith Richards, Stevie Wonder, Robert Plant + more.
‘Sahel’ tracklisting:
1. Tazidert
2. Alwane
3. Aitma
4. Si Chilan
5. Ayo Nigla
6. Darfuq
7. Ayes Sachen
8. Nik Sant Awanha
9. Itisahid
10. Mes Amis
