Blistering and hypnotic, ‘Ilana (The Creator)’ (2019) marked the beginning of a new chapter for Mdou Moctar. It is the Nigerien guitar heros first album recorded with a live rock band and perfectly captures the heavy, psychedelic sound part Tuareg desert blues, part ZZ Top that the quartet had honed through endless touring and which would come to explosive fruition on ‘Afrique Victime’ (2021) and ‘Funeral For Justice’ (2024). ‘Ilana’ was the first step and its songs remain setlist standbys for the quartets soaring performances.