At a time when so many UK and US artists are shruggingly apolitical, the palpable anger blazing all through Nigerien psych-rock guitarist Mdou Moctar’s second album on Matador, and seventh total, looks like a robust corrective. Following up on among the points raised on 2021’s massively spectacular Afrique Victime, Funeral for Justice doesn’t pull any punches, whether or not tackling the disastrous legacy of French colonialism (Oh France) and the failures of African leaders to construct up their nations (the title monitor), or the best way that Moctar’s native Tamasheq language is prone to dying out because it loses out to French amongst youthful folks (the impassioned Imouhar).
As ever, Moctar’s instrumentation is as incendiary as his phrases. His virtuoso guitar work – all fast-evolving riffs and thrillingly fluid soloing – is the point of interest all through, lifting the likes of Tchinta and Sousoume Tamacheq to the next airplane. His US-Nigerien band are simply as necessary, nevertheless, constructing on the propulsive Tuareg desert blues, or assouf, popularised internationally by Tinariwen twenty years in the past, and creating an unstoppable momentum behind him. Dazzling.
