Ibeyi – Ibeyi

Album Review by Katie Hawthorne | 28 Jan 2015
Album title: Ibeyi
Artist: Ibeyi
Label: XL
Release date: 16 Feb

Folklore has it that there’s something a little spooky about twins, and Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz use this to incredible, uncanny advantage. There’s so much going on in Ibeyi’s eponymous debut, but the French sisters handle their heady mix with truly impressive restraint. Drawing upon their father's Cuban heritage they weave Yoruba-inspired rhythms into a fabric of old and new; influences from jazz, soul and hip-hop emerge and fade. They made a mix-tape recently, featuring everything from Nina Simone to Earl Sweatshirt – it explains a lot.

Through stripped back piano and impeccably architectural percussion, the sisters conjure an absorbing, spiritual world that’s warming... but a little unsettling. Multilingual lyrics lend themselves to harmonies truly twinned, telling tales that manage to be both intimate and timeless. Single Mama Says invites us into the complexities of family, Ghosts is a swelling, goosebump-raising hymn and Stranger / Lover could fill a floor as easily as it'll break hearts.

The album is polished with Richard Russell's by now trademarked XL-produced gloss, but it doesn't lose anything in translation: there's a real sense of space, of being unrushed, and it's delicious. In case you were wondering, Ibeyi is pronounced "ee-bey-ee." It's a name you'll need this year. 

Playing Glasgow Stereo on 21 Feb and Manchester Night & Day on 22 Feb http://www.ibeyi.fr