Ash

by 
AlbumSep 29 / 201712 songs, 39m 43s
Art Pop Alternative R&B
Popular

After the introspective reflections of 2015 debut *Ibeyi*, twins Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz set their focus on the volatile political landscape. The spare, percussive “Away Away” clings to the hope of a better tomorrow with an uplifting, hymnal hook before Kamasi Washington’s saxophone underscores a gripping mood of defiance on “Deathless,” an account of wrongful arrest. However, “No Man Is Big Enough for My Arms” best encapsulates the album’s blend of bold expression and entrancing, experimental R&B, striking at misogyny with a fierce punch wrapped inside a velvet glove of beautiful harmonies.

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8.3 / 10

On their second album, the French-Cuban twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz make gorgeous, genre-agnostic meditations on resilience and mindful resistance.

7 / 10

8 / 10

Teaming a hip hop mentality with a love of jazz, soul and world music, Ibeyi create an album that truly stands out on its own.

Ibeyi's stellar self-titled debut album was a flashpoint that steeped itself in brittle electro-drenched R&B and roots Yoruban percussion and openly engaged the saints of Santeria: its introduction was an invocation to Elegua (the gatekeeper between worlds) and the goddess of wind and storms in "Oya."

An astonishing, beautiful second album from French-Cuban sisters Ibeyi.

7 / 10

The weight of expectation: it can either ground or crush an artist — or, in this instance, artists. After blowing minds in 2015 with their s...

8 / 10

During the political upheavals of the past year-and-a-half, there have been suggestions that the upside will be a glut of new musical activism to enjoy,

(XL)

8 / 10