Ibeyi : Offering
On their fourth album as Ibeyi, twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz sublimate quite a few times. Depending on the given track, they might be Osiris, king of the Egyptian gods, or a centaur that quickly becomes a dragon, or the living embodiment of a mosh pit. Yet regardless of who or what’s getting channeled, Ibeyi never lose grasp of themselves. Offering embodies its titular practice, taking what has been learned and building something new entirely.
The daughters of acclaimed conguero and former Buena Vista Social Club member Miguel “Angá” Díaz and French-Venezuelan photographer Maya Dagnino, Ibeyi began as a way for the Díaz sisters to explore the musical traditions of their Yoruba and Cuban heritage. Their last full-length offering, 2022’s Spell 31, was a spiritual slice of stripped-back Afro-soul, drawing from the Egyptian Book of the Dead as a means of healing in the wake of COVID-19. Offering is a far denser record by comparison (it also marks Ibeyi’s first independent release since parting ways with XL in 2025), dabbling in distortion and choral-arrangements to create the duo’s vastest and most fully-fleshed work to date.
It’s a change Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi verbalize clearly on the title-track: “I don’t make spells anymore / Now I make offerings.” Said distinction might seem insignificant to the uninitiated, but the spiritual intentionality behind the two practices couldn’t be more different. Spells are appeals to divine powers, asking for change, strength, or whatever else one might require. Offerings, on the other hand, are sacrificial—a return on the spirit-world’s energetic investment.
“Olokun” invokes the name of the Yoruban god of the ocean to pounding drums and increasingly fervent chants. Compare this to Spell 31’s “O Inle,” an acoustic prayer to the god of healing, and the discrepancy is apparent. “Aset” further emphasizes the record’s sonic prowess, creating a haunting atmosphere of incorporeal vocals and minor thirds. While past Ibeyi albums saw the Díaz sisters largely unaccompanied aside from their own instrumentation, Offering brings a coterie of outside producers into the mix (most notably Michaël Brun, known for his work with J Balvin). The resulting music is noticeably bigger, darker, and more focused on the sheer power of the sisters’ voices than ever before.
Exhibit A: the blood-pumping war-cries on “Moshpit.” While pounding 808s definitely add quite a bit of intensity, the track’s true presence comes from its layers of vocal harmonies and choral refrains. Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi’s voices bleed and blend into each other seamlessly, a process as chameleonic as the transformations detailed in the lyrics: “I’m a centaur, I’m a centre / I’m a dragon, you’re on fire.” Their confidence extends past self-assurance, instead stemming from the deepest and most elemental of roots.
This steadfastness wasn’t something Ibeyi found overnight. “Offerings” acknowledges a fear of change, and the unwillingness through which many spiritual discoveries are made: “I guess my heart is an offering… I gave it to the gods, baby.” The sisters’ voices are indistinguishably close-knit, accompanied only by meditative drums and gentle piano chords.
Moments later, they battle self-doubt with far more aggression. “Baba” verbalizes the struggles and second-guessers that continue to threaten their potential (“I won’t listen anymore / Trust them anymore / I was insecure”), before exploding into a Yoruban chant honoring Eleggua, the god of pathways and destiny. The post-chorus renders the powers of said prayer quite clearly: “One thing is for sure / I’m who I was looking for.”
Ultimately, Offering’s greatest drawback is its length. While the brevity of a 30-minute runtime is admirable, the overall potency of the tracklist feels hampered by a lack of development. It’s a great problem for Ibeyi to have—they have enough of a good thing to warrant doing more.
Label: Ibeyi
Year: 2026
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