Elwan
Elwan is the seventh album by the Tuareg band Tinariwen, released in 2017. The title means "elephants" in Tamashek and the term is used as a metaphor for militias and corporations that have trampled the fragile natural and human ecosystems of the desert. The album was partially recorded in Joshua Tree National Park (as was its predecessor "Emmaar") with additional recording in Paris, France and M'hamed El Ghizlane, Morocco. The album includes guest appearances by Matt Sweeney, Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan, and Alain Johannes. One reviewer called the album "devastatingly beautiful," and another described the album as "musing on  the values of ancestry, unity and fellowship, driven by the infectiously hypnotic cyclical guitar grooves that wind like creepers around their poetic imagery." AllMusic named "Elwan" as one of the best albums of 2017. Track listing. Note: Tracks 12–13 are bonus tracks in some editions of the album. Personnel. All information from album liner notes.