For a while now the world has known of the charismatic sounds of Niger’s Mdou Moctar. The guitar driven sound that the group creates is on its own level and offers a Saharan sound that’s essentially reimagined into a whole new universe of sound. Now the band has announced a new album Afrique Victime due in May and they’ve revealed a new song as well. The track “Tala Tannam” translated means your tears and here the hypnotic sounds of the primarily unplugged song will leave you mesmerized. An accompanying video shot in Niger is also included, offering a glimpse into the lives of many within the Tuareg community.

The dual guitars begin the track with a hypnotizing tone. With the tonal qualities of the players coming through in each plucked string, the vocals are lifted up with the choral backing vocals. The claps that stand as a beat offer an almost star gazed sound, delivering the notes as you drift into another place. When the spaced out guitar rolls in, the song takes off into an astral existence that catapults it into the hemisphere. The video shows the community in which the group comes from and serves as the perfect backdrop for the music within. The images transform you to a place that seems far away while those on screen exhibit many attributes of people you encounter daily.

The video can be viewed above or on YouTube. The single can be heard on all streaming sites. Afrique Victime is ready for preorder directly from Matador Records ahead of its May 21 release date.

Image Credits: Photo by WH Moustapha.