Mdou Moctar announce new album ‘Tears for Injustice’
Tuareg songwriter and master of desert blues guitar Mdou Moctar has officially announced a new album, Tears for Injustice, intended to be a companion piece to their stunning record Funeral for Justice, which was released earlier this year. Reportedly, this new record has been in the works for some time, and when listening to the newly released track ‘Imajighen (Injustice Version)’, that fact is plain to see.
Although Nigerien songwriter and guitarist Mdou Moctar has been creating music for over 15 years, it is only in recent times that he has become a global force for desert blues music. Along with his band, Moctar demonstrates his absolute mastery of the guitar, playing a style of blues rock that is combined with psychedelia and the rich musical history of the Tuareg people of West Africa.
With his most recent record, Funeral for Justice, Mdou Moctar succeeded in creating a diverse and captivating blues rock record which completely stood out among the current scene of Western rock music. Reportedly, it was prior to the release of that album that the band had the idea of making a companion piece.
While the group of musicians were touring the United States back in 2023, Mohamed Bazoum – the then president of Niger, was deposed by a military junta. A side effect of this was that the military force closed Niger’s borders, leaving Mdou Moctar and his band unable to return home to their nation or their families. Funeral for Justice was always going to be a record that challenged authority and power, but the emotional nature of the situation had to be explored, too.
Tears for Injustice is a different version of Funeral for Justice, which adopts a more stripped-back, acoustic sound, which adds an entirely new angle to the musical world of Mdou Moctar. Given that the band often break down and rebuild their compositions live on stage, an album of the same songs played differently feels like the next natural step in their discography.
The band’s bassist, Mikey Coltun, revealed of the new record, “We wanted to make a separate version of Funeral for people to hear.” He also explained, “We’re always playing around with arrangements at shows. We wanted to prove that we could do it on a record, too. And there’s a whole other side of the band that comes out when we play a stripped-down set. It becomes something new.”
Fans have a while to wait for the full version of Tears for Injustice to hit the airwaves. The record is due to be released February 28th via Matador Records, although the band have also released a single alongside this album announcement, seeing them strip back the sound of their beloved track ‘Imajighen.’
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