WWW . T E M E N I K E L E C T R I C . C O M

Acclaimed by international critics for their debut album, TEMENIK ELECTRIC are back with Inch’Allah Baby, 10 tracks radiated by Arabian Rock, amplified by the sirocco and encrusted with futuristic pop of Oriental Western mist. In this whirlwind of identities, enhanced by Justin Adams and Tim Oliver in the famous Real World studios, Maghrebi popular music is fused with rock riffs and electro trance while the Arabic language, between emotions and incantations, carries the clear call of an invitation to dance. With their inspiration and dazzle, TEMENIK ELECTRIC transform the clash of cultures into great rock of civilizations. Intense and universal.

ENA OUYEKDENIA, DENIAN’TOUMAZAKIAKIFECH’N DIRMEUJNOUNMEZEL EL BARANINAHOUHAMISTEKBEULRENGAINE

12345678910

ENA OUYEK, «you and I» the opening track of INCH’ALLAH BABY, is overflowed with this dual Arabic and rock culture. Deep bass, tribal rhythm, catchy riff and memorable violin: they have it all. Right from the start, the East collides with West in an embrace evoking flesh and sweat. Here, the narrative is urban - a homeless woman seen every day, we feel sorry for her but never invite her home – yet new horizons are unfold by the sonic alchemy. In INCH’ALLAH BABY there is also a succession of songs that are an invitation to dance. Tracks for party-goers, a call for fun as in DENIA, DENIA, N’TOUMA and the hypnotic MEZEL EL BARANI, an epic song about the desert and dust, sons of gnawa trance...

Among TEMENIK ELECTRIC there is HASSAN TIGHIDET on the guitar, acid and polished, it sometimes recalls the Touareg signature of Tinariwen (produced by Justin Adams, what a coincidence!) and the co-founder of the band JéRôME BERNAUDON at the bass. The voice of MEHDI sings, chants and sometimes psalmodies.In ZAKIA the only ballad on the record, ode to the purity of feelings, the soul is torn by MEHDI’s voice that has something of an Arab Johnny Cash: «I wrote it in the middle of the controversy surrounding same-sex marriage. It proved to me how reactionary France had become. Is this love song for a man? Or is it for a woman? I leave room for doubt.»

INCH’ALLAH BABY is an intimate and universal album. Intimate as it tells stories of ghosts and personal angst as in RENGAINE the only French title which closes the album or MEUJNOUN, the «insane» in Arabic, where a preacher’s voice calls out to the devil of nightmares on a heavy electronic rhythm. INCH’ALLAH BABY is also universal, without being political it is rebellious and deals with today’s unease, reflecting a sensitive portrait of the condition of French citizens of Algerian descent. As the resurgence of racism is being witnessed in the country, a few months after the attack against Charlie Hebdo KIFECH’N’DIR, at the heart of the album, symbolizes the nervous incomprehension agitating MEDHI HADDJER. In the chorus with the guitars labelled London 77 he wonders «How to do that? How to manage to live together? When will they stop treating us as strangers?» TEMENIK ELECTRIC, a politically committed band? MEHDI HADDJERI cuts short «I only tell love stories… it is the current context that transforms our music into a cause.»

INCH’ALLAH BABY...The title of the second album by TEMENIK ELECTRIC seemed obvious.A natural crossing of two cultures, two worlds, two influences. Ten tracks permanently tilting between the mystical fatalism of the Maghrebi people and the classy and arrogant hedonism of Anglo-Saxon rock. Arabian rock. MEHDI HADDJERI, soul and leader of the band, claims the genre, «I am a child of rock and English pop, who grew up listening to Arab music at home».As for the reason why this bearded adventurer in his mid-40s sings in the language of his ancestors, it is mainly because «it strikes, it is brutal and it resonates with my message.»

Two years after OUESH HADA ? The first explosive record released in 2013 TEMENIK ELECTRIC preserves this special energy, this rock flamboyance and desire for partying tangible at each of their gigs... Their experience at REAL WORLD STUDIOS in Bath, in the hands of JUSTIN ADAMS and TIM OLIvER, adds control and a fresh depth to the wave breaking band. This time the structure of the album was prepared by MEHDI HADDJERI and MATHIEU HOURS, his alter-ego on the machines «Justin and Tim immediately grasped the spirit of the band. With their arrangements and production they took our music a step further». «In addition, working in the same studio as Peter Gabriel, with the guitarist of Robert Plant is like fulfilling a lifelong dream» he admits with relish.

Gilles Rof

LABEL :Nomad Café Production - Diakha Sow

diakha@lenomad.com - (+33) 4 91 62 49 77

BOOKING FRANCE & BENELUX :Blueline – Jean-Marie Kerinec

juario@blueline.fr - (+33) 6 89 89 69 35

BOOKING INTERNATIONAL :Sonia Nisi

sonia.booking@lenomad.com - (+33) 6 50 94 81 08

PROMOTION & PRESS :Olivier Rey

rey.olivier@lenomad.com - (+33) 6 21 08 58 76

RECORDED BY :Laurent Moulis - Studio La Forge – Avignon - France

MIX AND ADDITIONAL PRODUCTIONS BY :Justin Adams and Tim Oliver at REAL WORLD STUDIOS - Box - United Kingdom

MASTERED BY :François Fanelli - Sonic Mastering - Marseille - France

W WW . T E M E N I K E L E C T R I C . C O M