[4] The album features guest appearances by Noura Mint Seymali, Micah Nelson, Cass McCombs, Stephen O'Malley, Warren Ellis, and Rodolphe Burger.

[4] The group instead decamped in Morocco and embarked on a multi-month journey through Western Sahara and Mauritania, collaborating with local musicians at several stops along the way and writing songs while camped out in the desert.

"[2] The album's lyrics reflect the group's recent struggles in trying to return to their homeland, their journey through Western Sahara and Mauritania, and their experiences as an unlikely international touring act.

Club said that the album is possibly the best of Tinariwen's career, as "droning songs of interlocking (and mostly acoustic) guitar come together with an appealing slowness, as if each element is steadily wandering in from the wilderness, curious about the noise and ready to join in.

"[9] Riff Magazine praised the album as "the closest anyone will get to the true essence of what Tinariwen represent as a cultural and musical force.