Malouma, who was born in Mauritania in the 1960s, is the daughter of Moktar Ould Meidah, a renowned traditional poet and musician. She grew up listening to her father's songs, but also soaked up other influences, discovering Senegalese, Berber, Egyptian and Lebanese sounds as well as the work of the great classical composers (Mozart, Wagner, Chopin and Beethoven). At an early age, Malouma was already providing musical accompaniment for her parents, both griots (poet-musicians devoted to passing on their country's oral heritage.)

Malouma began composing her own songs in her teens, tackling topical issues such as arranged marriages and inequality. Needless to say, such sensitive material soon fell foul of the authorities in her homeland. Wearing the veil, but full of fighting spirit and natural optimism, Malouma persevered with her work over the next ten years despite the fact that under Nouakchott's authoritarian regime (finally overthrown in August 2005), she could never sing freely. The Mauritanian rebel campaigned for various causes over the years, supporting the fight against AIDS and campaigning for child vaccination, literacy programmes and women's rights. Even if it meant exporting her music abroad, Malouma insisted on forging her own unique style, drawing on her cultural tradition but modernising the latter with often strikingly unexpected arrangements.

Nour mines the same rich vein as Malouma's previous albums, featuring interesting musical mixes such as Gamly (where bass and pounding keyboards transform her into the modern queen of the dancefloor) and Yarab (with thrilling electric guitar solos set to a bluesy rhythm). Refusing all attempts at musical pigeon-holing, Mauritania's modern-day "griotte" cuts across musical genres, charming listeners with everything from an acoustic lullaby (Habib) and an a cappella melody (Nour) to a quirky reggae-pop fusion (Casablanca) and the nostalgia-infused ballad Yemma.

Malouma's distinctive voice runs throughout the album, pulling disparate musical threads together as she shows off her impressive vocal and emotional range, imbuing her songs with heartfelt joy and sadness, anger and tenderness. The desert diva was joined in the studio by a group of fifteen musicians, playing 'ud, drums, bass, percussion, guitars and the gumbass (a guimbri body with a bass-style neck) and special guest stars on the album include Bojan Z, the pianist Eric Legnini and clarinettist Guillaume Humery. Nour, produced by Philippe Teissier du Cros (renowned for his work with Magic Malik, Rokia Traoré and on Vincent Ségal's solo albums), comes as a veritable ray of sunshine – not surprising then to learn that the album title, "Nour", is an Arabic word meaning "light."