Ibeyi, Koko

Traditional West African Yoruba music and James Blake-inspired electronic crooning appear to stand worlds apart, until you remember the crucial importance of non-Western music in the history of pop. Ibeyi understand these connections acutely, and bring them to a distinctive place. On the heels of their well-received debut album, River they are visiting London this November.
Ibeyi are twin sisters Naomi (lead vocals, piano) and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz (vocals, cajón, Batåa drum), daughters of legendary Buena Vista Social Club percussionist Miguel. Raised in Cuba but resident in Paris, they embrace their West African descent by following the Regla de Ocha faith. And listening to their self-titled album, it can feel like you’re privy to a ritual, paying tribute to departed family members and lost love.
The incantatory ‘Oya’ carries echoes of Jenny Hval and Susanna, with a hymnal opening that gradually embraces a crunching beat, while ‘Mama Says’’ maudlin jazz lament reaches a sort of redemption with an outpouring of joyful Yoruba chant. The sparse ‘River’, whose minimalist video perfectly captures the song’s half-awake atmosphere, spotlights the power of their contrasting voices, with Naomi’s earthly, soulful tones balanced against Lisa-Kaindé’s more insistent, tautness. Although Ibeyi’s music can feel etched with the signs of their forbearers - most notably Bjork in her most inward-looking moments – it manages to have a compelling potency of its own.