Mdou Moctar – Tears For Injustice

Matador

Mdou Moctar has, in the last decade or so, ripped through the consciousness of whatever we’re calling underground music these days. First with the Music From Saharan Cellphones (very autotune, very drum machines) and later with his full band business occupying the rarely seen ‘actually good’ slot of contemporary psychedelic music. Difficult to say whether Moctar is psych — I’d say not — because I gather he’s closer to Tuareg traditions than not, but perhaps psych is a broader church than I think of it as.

This here record is a second take on his 2023 album Funeral For Justice, this time acoustic instruments lending it a round-the-billowing-fireplace vibe where the previous, electric-amplified, version was closer to the centre of the fire. Of course there’s an amount of electric business — a whisp or two of amplified lead lines — but for the main Tears For Injustice is a more subdued, or perhaps just gritted-teethedly, take on the original.

One of the things with this kind of music is that it’s very much formed by playing live — so it’s only fair that Moctar and his lads should have a second bite of the cherry. The liner notes mention that this eight-minute version of “Imouhar” is actually two takes, and Moctar was too quick going into the second take to cut it apart. One wonders if that isn’t a better way of doing an eight-minute song, given the outcome is a seriously gratifying groove that’s got all sorts of contours flanking its solid percussive base.

For my ears — by no means expert in Tuareg business — this record is more constrained than its parent. Where “Sousoume Tamacheq” has wild solos, this acoustic version seems to work closer with the percussion and handclaps. Tighter and more percussive on the guitars. Which is to say it’s very much a distinct record. Less angry on the surface, but also letting the groove drill into a person rather than saturating it with rock-isms. Perhaps the acoustic-ness gives it a more timeless feel — certainly if someone were to play this to me and say it’s some lost ’70s classic I’d probably not bat much of an eyelid.

Though it’s also worth saying that there’s still plenty of production and studio on this record — “Imajighen” has definitely got a bunch of reverb tails, there’s still plenty of manipulating a live band going on. The long tails and taut drum sounds let the percussion sing out where, perhaps, the parent record leans more on Moctar’s lead guitar.

Like the old adage about vengeance being a dish best served cold, the greater restraint lends Tears For Injustice a sense of malevolence. Perhaps that’s because I know about the political content — largely directed at political failures in Moctar’s homeland of Niger — but the balancing of joy and critique sounds glorious here. Not for nothing that the closing track is “Modern Slaves”.

Do you need this record if you’ve got Funeral For Justice? I’d say yeah. Same slice, different side — perhaps a more holistic sound here, and songs that have grown through the process of touring. Something to dance to, sedately and gracefully. Banger.

-Kev Nickells-