Essam

Essam means lightning in Tamasheq. The album came out on City Slang on 16 January 2026, in the band's twentieth anniversary year, and was recorded at Aboogi Studio. Maxime Kosinetz worked on it with Emile Papandreou of the French duo UTO. The band's live instruments were sampled, including percussion such as the calabash and metal cans, and reprocessed through a modular synthesiser. Arte noted that the band move away from the Tuareg guitar here.

The producer said Azaman Amoutay was meant to sound like a mantra: a filtered loop of everyday sounds over the calabash rhythm, with drone and ambience, much of it from an old harmonium. Sadam's lyrics on it speak of being unable to keep pace with a frantic age. Announcing the record, Sadam said the band tried something they had never done and took some risks. Far Out's Ben Forrest called it one of the most innovative and beautiful blues albums of recent memory. The album was announced in October 2025 with the single Derhan N'Oulhine, and a UK tour followed in March 2026.