Ibeyi – Ash
(XL Recordings)
Reviewed by Dave Tucker.
Rising from XL recordings, the curious factory of eclectic electronica, lifts the raw return of Ibeyi. Following on from their haunting debut, the honestly beautiful ‘Ibeyi’ (2015), French-Cuban twins Lisa Kainde and Naomi Diaz have grown in confidence and widened their worldly soundtrack. Produced by label founder, sonic spectre Richard Russell, ‘Ash’ feels astutely relevant whilst leaning on mystical callings that illuminate the politically charged reality of modern life.
Carved from a less than perfect experience of oppression and mistreatment, Ibeyi share their spiritual journey of a love/hate relationship with these times, articulated from an intercultural vocal voice that incorporates a mix of French, English and Yoruba. From the crackling samples of ‘Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares’ on the opening cut ‘I carried this for years’, the curtains are parted for an authentic take on all that ain’t quite right in 2017. The album’s first single ‘Away Away’ follows, celebrating survival through the tortures of just being, “feel the pain, feel the pain, but I’m alive, I’m alive”. ‘Deathless’ featuring American saxophonist Kamasi Washington is rhymically rich, with an edgy mourning that wraps a nightmare narrative of police brutality around a callous and creepy beat.
Sitting in that mature menagerie of world music, Ibeyi dabble in abstract jazz leanings, filling sparse special awareness with a gritty realness that resonates. Layering sound, ‘No man is big enough for my arms’, piggy backs on the immortal speech of Michelle Obama, “the measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls…”, flexing a feminine call to handle things as a series of sisterhoods. A personal favourite cut ‘Me Voy’ , featuring Spanish rapper Mala Rodriguez, is a sombre ode to Cuba, dusting my inner lobes with its emotional parting platitudes. Such honest sharing, moving my listening experience into a personal connection, between the creator and consumer.
Taking care of the murky message driven beats left vacant by Tricky and his Bristol beat makers, Ibeyi squat freely in the tender turmoil of poetry and performance. Angry with the state of play, and spinning from an articulate orbit, their troubled tunes question our identity and demand action.
Worthy of your aural investigation.
