Ibeyi

‘I don’t make spells anymore; now I make offerings.’

What does it mean to let go and return to yourself? This is what Offering asks, the latest album from Ibeyi. Coming four years after their third album, Spell31, the French-Cuban twins bring you on a journey of rediscovery, an evolution of sound and self. Offering is an invitation to release.

Now, 12 years after their breakthrough EP Oya, Ibeyi are less interested in seeking validation; they are robust in their convictions and their art. Offering also marks Ibeyi’s first project since going independent, working with a number of new producers, with Naomi Diaz and Lisa-Kiandé Diaz also handing over the reins of percussion and piano to a host of talented musicians.

The Ibeyi stamp is still present, building on their previous EP and three albums that gained them global recognition, singing in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba alongside their enchanting vocals. And now, in Offering, we traverse through a kaleidoscope of thumping percussion and heavy bases, to subtle incantations and delicate harmonies.

Through their visuals, Ibeyi invites audiences into a part of their world they have never shared before: Cuba. All shot on location in Havana, and working with local artists, musicians and their community, Offering’s visuals are the manifestation of their homecoming.

Grounded in the future, their latest project is a hopeful revolution of self, representing a vulnerability that can only come with growing older, accepting failure and passing through it.

– Niellah Arboine