There are many useful interpretations to understand the greatness of “Funeral For Justice”, the seventh album, second for the Matador record label, by guitarist Mdou Moctar and his band.
For Mahamadou Souleymane (real name of Mdou Moctar) it was complex to manage the role of musician together with that of citizen of a land, the republic of Niger (not to be confused with neighboring Nigeria), shocked by a coup d'état that put in command, for the fifth time, a right-wing dictatorial military regime.
Stranded in America and troubled by the fate of their loved ones, Mdou Moctar and his companions criticized the new government that ousted Bazoum, but did not spare criticism of France and the colonial policy – concentrated above all on the intensive exploitation of uranium reserves – which led the country to financial collapse.
“Funeral For Justice” was not born following these recent events, the album was already ready before the coup, the social and political demands of these nine songs are in fact the same as always, for Moctar colonialism and wicked politics African artists are at the center of a now long career of militant artists, forced into a painful exile.
Hot themes and a scorching Afro-rock musicality are a perfect combination for a project destined to leave a profound mark in the current year, the guitar and instrumental fury of “Oh France” goes hand in hand with the invectives against colonialist France , guilty of brutal crimes against the population of Niger; and the splendid “Sousoume Tamacheq” is even more frenetic and impetuous, an act of denunciation of the difficult situation of the Tuareg displaced from their homeland as well as a cultural manifesto of that native language, Tamacheq, which years of political and social oppression risk definitively erasing from the African country .
Musically “Funeral For Justice” is another exciting and original artefact of contemporary rock-blues, the much evoked comparison of the guitarist Mdou Moctar with Jimi Hendrix has a profound value, the African musician does not pursue the embarrassing aesthetic solutions of many blues artists, nor imitates (like Hendrix) the exhausting technical digressions of the seven-note tightrope walkers, the technical virtuosity is never self-indulgent, the riff they are fluid, fast, constantly changing. Every note of these nine tracks is a clear cut to normalization (“Imouhar”), in the powerful and original “Tchinta” and in the oscillating desert-blues melancholy of “Takoba”, there is all the ardor of a proud and proud land of their identity.
The final message of the album is touching and intense, “Oh world, why are you so selective about human beings? My people cry while you laugh”, entrusted to the delicate prayer of “Modern Slaves”, yet another warning towards those politicians that they should care for their people with respect for diversity and human dignity; a powerful and sincere message for an album of equal strength and artistic and cultural value.
10/05/2024
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
