Seigar Recommends: “Away Away” by Ibeyi

Seigar, the photographer, is back.

Memoir Mixtapes gives me the chance to bring you “the twins;” which is what “Ibeyi” means in the Yoruba Language. These two girls from Cuba and France bring you lots of music genres in their latest album, in which they have opened their rhythms to a wider audience. Their music still sounds like “world music,” but they’ve added some elegant and complex music arrangements, which allows them to reach the Pitchfork audience. They have now been accepted by “the bible of current music.” Their new polished image is also part of this marketing campaign to make them look and sound “cool.”

Now that this has been said, I can just praise the album. It is one of the year’s surprises. Its form is intricate electronic music and its content is extraordinarily global. You can even find Frida Kahlo’s famous lines in their lyrics (“Transmission”). They tried everything to make this work, from gospel to spoken verses. Their voices are (have always been) delicious, but with the richness of this production, temptation is impossible to resist.

Listen to the album and also enjoy their guests, from Kamasi Washington, Meshell Ndegeocello, Chili Gonzales or even La Mala Rodríguez. Yes! They also call for attention to the Latin audience. The messages are feminist, similar to Beyoncé’s last record, for example: “No Man is Big Enough for my Arms”.

They feel stronger than ever, and they sound stronger than ever. They have the voices of angels like Syd or Lauryn Hill, and the sophistication of D’Angelo or Erykah Badu, all they need to be here and there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erI1UfVUGTk

If you like what you hear you can find the album on Spotify.

(Song recommendation by Seigar)