Hot on the heels of their acclaimed album “Tikounen” – an album the Guardian called ‘a leap forward in the modern Tuareg sound…truly radical’ – Kel Assouf return with an even more transformative collection.

Produced by the band’s keyboardist Sofyann Ben Youssef, the mastermind behind AMMAR 808, the new album strips things back to a power trio and focuses on the crackling, electric energy of Nigerian front man Anana Ag Haroun’s next level Tuareg rock songs.

Available on 180g heavyweight vinyl

Anana exudes a steadied yet powerful charisma when he walks onto a stage. Wearing his trademark Panama hat and holding one of rock and roll’s most archetypal guitars – a Gibson Flying V – both his presence and his music personifies the interconnected paths he has travelled in the past years Kel Assouf’s musical journey has flowed seamlessly from the well-spring created by Ishumar desert rock pioneers Tinariwen – that Haroun first encountered as a young musician in Niger – towards sonic horizons that include the rock classicism of groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age and the club beats and astral ambiance of European electronic music. On Black Tenere, the band pushes these different textures and influences towards a persuasive, raw-edged crescendo.