Etran de L’Aïr Bring the Desert to You

Etran de L’Aïr – 100% Sahara Guitar(Sahel Sounds)

In their native city of Agadez, a trading hub of the nomadic Tuareg tribe in the high Sahara Desert, Etran de L’Aïr have been playing since the mid-1990s. But 100% Sahara Guitar marks the first time the quartet—three brothers on guitar and bass, a close family friend on drums—have entered a proper studio.

That’s not as surprising as it sounds—100% Sahara Guitar is only their third record, and when the group began, they didn’t have access to electricity. After building a reputation as a rollicking wedding band (and eventually acquiring electric guitars and a real, non-gourd-based drum kit) in their native country, they broke out internationally with 2018’s No. 1 and toured widely behind 2022’s Agadez. Both albums were recorded in their homeland: the first live, the second using a portable studio. For 100% Sahara Guitar, they not only entered a professional recording facility, but they also flew to the U.S. to do it, laying down tracks in Portland and L.A.—a long way from Saharan village weddings.

Despite the major upgrade, Etran don’t really screw with the formula—they got this far by giving the people what they want, after all. They build energetic, intensely physical music out of trebly guitar lines that can spiral, sprawl, and interlock, weaving intricate patterns and then breaking them down, like a desert wind briefly kicking up sand into an array of dizzying shapes before moving on.

Tracks like opener “Ighre Massina” and the swaggering “Imouha” blend call-and-response vocals and a lopsided, galloping rhythm that feels both Arabic and African, while the brittle tang of the guitars on “Erkimidiwane” has hints of both California surf and a Middle Eastern bazaar. And while the fundamentals have remained in place, the dynamics have improved noticeably, with the bass sounding far more pronounced, showing the harmonic complexities that lie beneath the band’s hard-charging, feel-good roof-raisers.

Etran de L’Aïr may now play bigger venues in front of different crowds, but they haven’t forgotten where they came from. – GRADE: B