Let the river take them, river drown them

November 11, 2014 8:55 AM

If you're plagued with a particularly troublesome earworm - perhaps related to a disproportionate number of cooks - then let Ibeyi erase it with their languid and hypnotic River (and its disquieting video).

Ibeyi ('twins' in Yoruba) is comprised of the French-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kainde and Naomi Díaz, daughters of the Cuban percussionist Anga. They are working on their debut album due out next year. Already available for your listening pleasure are the tracks Oya and Mama Says.

posted by komara (13 comments total)

The moment halfway through when I suddenly realized those are someone else's hands pushing them down. Aaagggghh.
posted by egypturnash at 9:17 AM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]

That's some impressive breath control.
posted by ropeladder at 9:19 AM on November 11, 2014

well that was harrowing.

egypturnash: "The moment halfway through when I suddenly realized those are someone else's hands pushing them down. Aaagggghh."

What did you think of their gowns?
posted by boo_radley at 9:20 AM on November 11, 2014

I think the lady on the left got the short end of the stick -- she seemed under the water longer than her sister.

Anyone else try holding their breath to see if they could make it as long?
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:57 AM on November 11, 2014

Gorgeous song. Unnerving video. This is just what I needed to hear, thank you!
posted by cmyk at 11:10 AM on November 11, 2014

What do you call it when the hook is so good but the song ends too quickly?
posted by Nevin at 11:13 AM on November 11, 2014

What do you call it when the hook is so good but the song ends too quickly?

not enough cooks?
posted by ennui.bz at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2014 [4 favorites]

If you're plagued with a particularly troublesome earworm - perhaps related to a disproportionate number of cooks -

YES. Thank you.
posted by Countess Elena at 1:05 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

"What did you think of their gowns?"

Well, having grown up around the Baptists I read them as traditional baptismal robes. I mean, the song is a call to the river divinity Oshun which is pretty far from what's studied in Sunday school the south, but I took the video as deliberately referencing the visuals of Protestant baptism.
posted by komara at 6:41 AM on November 12, 2014

Surely American Southern Christianity is very much African-inflected? When I first saw that scene in Oh Brother, Where Art Though where they all go down to the river I was all What? White people do this too?

Oshun Festival google image search.

Thanks for the nice post, def will check out their music. Kainde and Taiwo are the Yoruba twin names so the other sister will be called Taiwo even if she doesn't use it publicly.
posted by glasseyes at 9:40 AM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well. Thanks for the GIS on Oshun Festival - I would not have thought to put those two words together and search. I'm always happy when my initial perception of something is wrong, or at least not fully-informed, and someone politely helps me on my way to greater understanding. I know that so much of the culture that surrounds me as a Southerner has roots in west Africa and yet it never occurred to me that what I think of as traditional Southern Christian rituals might have strong parallels or origins elsewhere.
posted by komara at 9:59 AM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Oshun Grove is a beautiful sacred forest on the Oshun river, these days the yearly festival brings a lot of internal tourism for the spectacle and the culture. The grove is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's a magical place, old growth rain forest which has had an artists' colony making clay sculpture there for many years.
posted by glasseyes at 10:55 AM on November 12, 2014

Ibeyi spends a day hanging out with OkayAfrica.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:34 AM on November 25, 2014