In the two decades since he made his first guitar out of handmade bicycle wires and discarded wood, Mdou Moctar’s music has spread like a psychedelic force across the Sahara. Despite his humble origins, Moctar – a self-taught musician born in Abalak, a town in the southwest of Niger – is regarded as one of the most respected guitarists working today, with last year’s album Afrique Victime propelling his band to international success.

His latest release Niger EP Vol. 1 is a compilation of six tracks recorded between 2017-2020, documenting the band at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and even impromptu house concerts. Fusing traditional songwriting from his native Tuareg culture (a nomadic group who inhabit a vast southern stretch of the Sahara) with soulful vocals and shredding guitar solos, the EP is psychoactive and heartfelt; Moctar’s guitar work is a searing and spellbinding thing, always the star of the show.

Elsewhere, Animalistic Beliefs share a frenetic debut, Dylan Fraser drops a heartfelt release, and Stella Explorer’s EP is mesmerising and expansive.