Imarhan shot an acoustic live session outside Aboogi Studio in Tamanrasset during the recording of their fourth album Essam, due 16 January 2026 via City Slang. The first excerpt, “Tellalt”, takes its name from a type of acacia wood found in the Sahara Desert: rare, turning red with age, prized for the flavour it gives to cooking and tea and for the specific crackle it produces when burning. The session returns to Aboogi, the first professional recording facility in Tamanrasset, built by the band and now serving as a hub for Saharan musicians who previously had no access to high-end equipment.
The five-piece – vocalist and guitarist Iyad Moussa Ben Abderrahmane (Sadam), guitarists Abdelkader Ourzig and Hicham Bouhasse, bassist Tahar Khaldi and percussionist Haiballah Akhamouk – formed in Tamanrasset in 2008 under guidance from Tinariwen. Eyadou Ag Leche of Tinariwen is Sadam’s cousin. Across earlier albums Imarhan, Temet and Aboogi, they built a recognisable Tuareg rock language from dry electric guitar lines, close vocal harmonies and pan-African rhythm patterns.
Essam marks a production shift. Long-time sound engineer Maxime Kosinetz stepped in as producer for the first time, travelling to Tamanrasset with Emile Papandreou of French duo UTO. Papandreou sampled live instruments and reprocessed them in real time with a modular synthesiser, moving the band’s sound away from strictly guitar-driven Tuareg rock towards something more electronic and exploratory.
Sadam ties “Tellalt” directly to the Algerian-Mali border crisis: “We’re very much affected, as Tuareg refugees have come from Mali to Tamanrasset. There are many families who have fallen on hard times and have had to flee because of armed conflict.” The wood itself carries symbolic weight: “When I smell the wood, I can hear the sound and it makes me think of the refugees and the suffering. So it’s melancholic and nostalgic, but it also brings feelings of hope and dreams of independence, dreams of calmness and joy.” The lyrics, sung in Tamasheq, describe warming by a fire during a long winter night, thinking of one’s people, and anticipating a moment when truth surfaces and the country returns to its inhabitants.
“Tellalt” serves as the second preview from Essam, which the band will bring to UK stages in March 2026 – playing Band on the Wall in Manchester, Old Woollen in Leeds, 229 in London, Acapela Studio in Cardiff, The Fleece in Bristol and Apex in Bury St Edmunds.
Stream and pre-order Essam HERE