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Mar 26, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Ebru Yildiz

Nigerien quartet Mdou Moctar are releasing a new album, Funeral for Justice, on May 3 via Matador. Now they have shared its second single, “Imouhar,” via a music video. Lauren Greenhall directed the video. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

The band belong to the Tuareg people and the song asks the Tuareg people to preserve their Tamasheq language, as it is in danger of dying out. Mdou Moctar shares its name with its lead singer and guitarist and he is one of the last people in his community who knows how to write in the language. In a press release, Moctar says: “People here are just using French. They’re starting to forget their own language. We feel like in a hundred years no one will speak good Tamasheq, and that’s so scary for us.”

The band have performed “Imouhar” live before and a different version of the song, a 13-minute instrumental version featuring a drum machine, was released on 2022’s Niger EP Vol. 1.

Previously the band shared the album’s title track, via a music video.

Funeral for Justice follows the band’s 2021 album, Afrique Victime.

In a previous press release, Moctar said the new album is inspired by the troubling political climate in Niger. “This album is really different for me. Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the U.S. and Europe came here, they said they’re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.”

Producer and bassist Mikey Coltun said: “Mdou Moctar has been a strong anti-colonial band ever since I’ve been a part of it. France came in, fucked up the country, then said ‘you’re free.’ And they’re not.”

Speaking of the band’s progression, Coltun added: “Ilana was the gateway album, saying that this is a raw rock band. And Afrique Victime was a summation of that vision. With Funeral for Justice, I really wanted this to shine with the political message because of everything that’s going on. As the band got tighter and heavier live, it made sense to capture this urgency and this aggression—it wasn’t a forced thing, it was very natural.”

Read our interview with Mdou Moctar on Afrique Victime.

Mdou Moctar Tour Dates:

April 14 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
April 21 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
June 5 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club
June 6 - Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar at ABC
June 7 - Richmond, VA @ Cheers Brown’s Island
June 8 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
June 9 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
June 11 - Charleston, SC @ Pour House
June 12 - Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
June 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
June 14 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
June 15 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
June 18 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
June 19 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
June 20 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
June 21 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
June 22 - Greenfield, MA @ Green River Music Festival
June 23 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
June 26 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
June 27 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
June 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
July 3 - London, UK @ Electric Brixton
July 7 - Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole
August 19 - Berlin, DE @ Festaal Kreuzberg
August 20 - Leipzig, DE @ UT Kreuzberg
August 21 - Munich, DE @ Ampere
August 22 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Summer Stage
August 25 - Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
August 26 - Antwerp, BE @ OLT Revierenhof
August 27 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
August 30 - Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
August 31 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
September 1 - Birmingham, UK @ Moseley Folk Festival
September 2 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
September 3 - Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
September 4 - Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club

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