He collaborated with figures such as Mark P. and Charles Hayward of This Heat, eventually joining ex PiL bassist Jah Wobble’s band Invaders of the Heart. In this band he developed a style of playing guitar which incorporated elements of Arabic and African styles with a post-punk/dub approach. Together they recorded three albums and worked with an array of great singers and players such as Natacha Atlas and Jaki Liebezeit from Can on the 1994 album “Take Me to God”.

He started to produce for other artists, notably French band Lo’Jo, whose album Mojo radio was released in 1998. 

A trip to Mali with Lo’jo while working on their next album “Boheme de Cristal“ was to prove seminal. Adams and Lo’Jo met Tuareg musicians from the North of Mali, a meeting which resulted in the 2000/2001 recording of Tinariwen’s debut album “The Radio Tisdas Sessions“, released on Adams’ Wayward label and the legendary first Festival of the Desert.

That first trip to Mali saw Adams buying an ngoni- a Tuareg 3 string lute, which provided the original impetus for his 2000 solo album Desert Road, described by FRoots magazine as “a masterpiece”. Shortly after its release, Adams was contacted by Robert Plant, searching for a guitarist for his new band. The Strange Sensation, featuring ex-members of Portishead, Massive Attack and Cast, went on to make two Grammy-nominated albums and to tour the world. Adams returned to the Festival of the Desert with Robert Plant in 2003 the performance captured on what Charlie Gillett called “perhaps the best live album of all time“.