Imarhan’s  Aboogi Studio, named for the structures their nomadic forebears built when establishing settlements, is the first professional recording studio in their city, meant to serve the Saharan region’s community of musicians, many who’ve never had access to high-end recording gear before. It seemed only natural to also call the resulting collection of songs Aboogi, a nod to the new collective space they had established, as well as the resilience of their culture and people. “Aboogi reflects the colors of Tamanrasset, what we experience in everyday life,” says bandleader Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane, aka Sadam. “We give space to the wind and the natural energies, to the sun and the sand. We want to express their colors through music.” There is incredible warmth embedded in these steady, lilting rhythms and patiently strummed acoustic guitars, derived not just from the natural environment but from the community that surrounds them.

Imarhan’s musical world has always been expansive, based in the traditional sounds of the Tuareg people but fiercely individualistic and embracing of the many styles they encounter. On Aboogi they emerge as a truly global group, united with their collaborators in a spirit of resistance and social change. This connection is sensed in today’s “Achinkad” video, which shows the band playing music around a fire and dancers shuffling throughout a desert.