Mdou Moctar’s New Album Is a Blazing ‘Funeral for Justice’

Jon Blistein
·3 min read
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Mdou Moctar - Credit: Ebru Yildiz
Mdou Moctar - Credit: Ebru Yildiz

Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar and his band are back with a new song, “Funeral for Justice,” the opener and title track for his next album, out May 3 via Matador Records.

The scorching new track is stuffed with dizzying riffs that always seem to lead to downbeat punches. The lyrics embody the strong political and anti-colonial themes across the album, with Moctar addressing Africa’s leaders directly at one point (via translation): “Retake control of your countries, rich in resources / Build them and quit sleeping.”

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Funeral for Justice follows Moctar’s celebrated 2021 album, Afrique Victime. While that album’s title track was also a searing political salvo, the album largely told more intimate stories about love and daily life in the Sahel region of Africa. Funeral for Justice, however, grapples deeply with the issues facing Moctar’s home country of Niger and the Tuareg people.

“This album is really different for me,” Moctar said in a statement. “Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US 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.”

Mikey Coltun, the band’s longtime bassist and producer, adds, “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.” (Along with Moctar and Colton, the band features rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane and drummer Souleymane Ibrahim.)

Recent political developments in Niger have had a direct impact on Mcotar, Madassane, and Ibrahim, too. Last summer, while the band was on tour in the U.S., a military coup overthrew Niger’s democratically elected government and made it impossible for the three musicians to return to their homes and families for several months. (The band had finished making Funeral for Justice before the coup.)

“I don’t support the coup,” Moctar said, “but I never in my life liked France in my country. I don’t hate France or French people, I don’t hate American people either, but I don’t support their manipulative policies, what they do in Africa. In 2023 we want to be free, we need to smile, you understand?”

Moctar is set to play Coachella this year, after which the band will launch a lengthy North American tour in support of Funeral for Justice. The run kicks off June 5 at the Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and wraps June 28 at Union Transfer in Philadelphia. A U.K. and European trek will follow.

Mdou Moctar North American Tour Dates
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

 

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