With fans ranging from Carlos Santana and Robert Plant to Thom Yorke, this band of Tuareg blues musicians from the Malian desert has turned local fame into international acclaim. This third record (translated: “water is life”) is a brilliantly executed collection of electric guitars swirling amidst handclaps, background percussion, and the effervescent chants and vocals of their revolving cast of characters. At its center, vocalist/guitarist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib-whose history deserves a book of its own-growls and harmonizes with such passion that any intrigued mind will quickly open. The depths of African blues meet amplified rock ‘n’ desert soul throughout.