London-based XL Recordings is on fire right now. The independent record label, headed by industry mainstay Richard Russell, has been behind some of the most significant indie rock/electronic releases of the last two years: From Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City to Jack White’s Lazaretto and more recently, FKA Twigs’ LP1. You get the feeling that Russell and company have their finger on the pulse of the music scene right now, and the label’s next big debut artist comes in the form of 20-year old French/Cuban twins, Naomi and Lisa-Kainde Diaz, better known as Ibeyi.
Ibeyi (pronounced ee-bey-ee) means “twins” in yoruba, the native language and culture of their Cuban father, musician Anga Diaz, who played percussion with Buena Vista Social Club and passed away in 2006. “Yoruba is a big part of our lives, our culture and Cuban culture” Lisa-Kainde says on a Skype call from their apartment in Paris’ Montparnasse neighborhood. But much like their father’s music, theirs is composed of elements from a slew of influences. Naomi explains that, “It was kind of subconscious that we did the same as him. He was mixing Latin jazz, hip-hop, a DJ, African music, jazz and we’re doing quite the same.”
Their music rings true to their yoruban heritage in both language as well as in the calls to spiritual “orishas,’ or deities of the culture. Ibeyi’s debut album (out Feb. 17 on XL) opens with a track called “Eleggua,” which pays homage to the yoruba orisha of communication. “Eleggua is the god of our father, and he’s the one that opens and closes the past.” They say together. “In every Yoruba ceremony, you start with singing and you end the ceremony singing for Eleggua. So for us it was natural to start with it and actually we start our concert every time with “Eleggua.”
Often times during our interview, they finish sentences in unison. It feels as if they’re channeling a unified message in the way they speak and complete each other’s sentiments fluidly. To that point, the first time we learned about Ibeyi, it was on the spellbinding video for “River,” where they take turns singing to Oshun, the orisha of love, fertility and rivers. They begin submerged in water, as if a baptism were taking place and come in and out of the water, to punctuate enchanting harmonies as the song peaks.
Lisa-Kainde tells the story of the video’s inception: “We were in the studio in London and Richard (Russell) wanted to introduce us to Ed (director Edwin Morris); he said ‘you would like him, would you like him to come over?’ So we said ‘yes’ and the next day he came over and told us he had two ideas. He said “I’m really excited and I have two ideas, but the first one you’re going to love it. I can’t hold it in any longer, I have to tell you.” When we heard it, we went “OH YEA!” hysterical and I said to him, let’s shoot it NOW. So we did it. It was perfect.”
When I ask them what the longest period they spent underwater in the video, they go back and forth adding and subtracting until they collectively say “Let’s say 30 seconds.” But the minutiae of the details of the video aren’t as intriguing as how the story begins to illustrate the relationship with their producer, Richard Russell. They often refer to him as “our amazing producer” and were so excited to tell me that they recorded the video and the entire album in Russell’s brand new London studio. “We are the first band [the first one! Naomi interjects] to record in this studio and we’re so proud.” Lisa-Kainde finishes with a smile.
Russell, meanwhile, seems to really pick and choose his spots when it comes to producing an album. Despite running the day-to-day operations at XL since 1994, his major production credits begin in 2010 with the last releases from Gil-Scott Heron (both I’m New Here and the Jamie XX remixed We’re New Here), Damon Albarn’s fantastic 2014 effort, Everyday Robots and co-producing Bobby Womack’s last two albums with Albarn. Although all of these projects were largely successful and Russell has had a heavy-hand in just about every major success at XL, Ibeyi present themselves as Russell’s first crack at producing a debut artist himself and thrusting them to the forefront of his label’s catalog. It’s palpable fast-lane treatment.