Idrache (Traces of the Past)

With the members of Tinariwen scattered around southern Algeria while they take refuge from the political unrest in Mali , we await their next move with interest – but in the meantime this new-but-not-new album, Idrache (Traces of the Past), collects a dozen previously unreleased tracks to satisfy our desert blues lust. Recorded in 2002, 2006 and 2008, eight of these offerings are earthy, demo-like alternative takes of songs heard on Tinariwen’s other albums, including ‘Assuf Ag Assuf’ from 2009’s Imidiwan: Companions. Half-sung and half-spoken by band leader Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and Mohammed ‘Japonais’ Ag Itlale, a founder member who never toured and seldom recorded, the track is so intimate it feels like we’re eavesdropping. Elsewhere a rough-hewn version of 2004’s ‘Alkhar Dessouf’ from Amassakoul, which unpacks the pain that nostalgia can bring, features the unusual and haunting sound of a wooden flute while among the songs that never yet made it onto an album, ‘Amoss Idjraw’ is driven by some cracking call-and-response female backing vocals and the acoustic ‘Azaman Amikankanen’, telling of “the breakdown of family loyalties” is another rare but welcome outing for the resonant voice of Ag Itlale, who died in 2021.