Imarhan

Imarhan's new album "Essam", out January 16th 2026 on City Slang. Recorded at their Aboogi Studio in Tamanrasset, "Essam" (“lightning” in Tamasheq) moves beyond guitar-driven blues into something more open, modern, and exploratory. The album is co-produced by longtime collaborator Maxime Kosinetz alongside Emile Papandreou of French duo UTO and features local artists and friends who contributed handclaps and vocals. "Essam" carries the pulse of its surroundings: clapping friends, echoing voices, and a sense of shared space, culminating in a sweeping statement of identity and evolution.  Since their formation in 2006, Imarhan - guitarist and vocalist Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane (Sadam), bassist Tahar Khaldi, guitarists Hicham Bouhasse and Abdelkader Ourzig, and percussionist Haiballah Akhamouk - have continually reshaped perceptions of Tuareg music. Building on the foundations of assouf (the desert blues sound made globally known by Tinariwen and Mdou Moctar), the group fuse ancient poetry and rhythm with funk, psychedelia, and pan-African groove to create something both timeless and urgently modern.