On Friday night, French-Cuban twin sisters Ibeyi made their Toronto debut to a sold-out Mod Club. If packing in a crowd of expectant people was cause for concern, they showed no signs of nervousness. They were excited, yes, but it was a kind, mutual energy they capitalized on – making it seem like the duo of Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz were there to share their talents with the audience, not just overtly show them off. As is the case with gifted performers though, an exhibition of this much ability is just a happy, inevitable side effect.
Expectations were understandably high – a hot ticket on the strength of their self-titled 2015 debut and the backing of Richard Russell’s XL Recordings. It was enough to see the show move from the cozy Drake Hotel to the much roomier Mod Club. As Friday night made clear: as stages keep growing, things will need to change.
Opening the night was Flo Morrissey, another up-and-comer making her Canadian debut and quick to show how deep her talents run. It was a beautiful set from the young performer, taking to the stage with just an acoustic guitar and an exceptional voice. The London folk artist is, it would seem, well beyond her years. Born in 1994 (as her various social channels will remind you), it’s a stripped-back sound that demands attention and channels contemporaries like Angel Olsen and Jessica Pratt.
Simple and understated, Morrissey wooed those that showed up early and were gathered by the stage with songs like her debut single, “Pages of Gold” and a cover of Nouvelle Vague’s “In a Manner of Speaking”.
Unfortunately she was battling a Friday night crowd, and as people began to file in, chatter by the bar was increasingly interfering with Morrissey’s material. Switching to keyboards only seemed to amplify the rest of the audience’s chattiness – something latecomers are likely to regret in the years to come as Morrissey’s talent and abilities continue to build. With opening dates scheduled with Ibeyi and Tobias Jesso Jr., plus a handful of UK festivals, keep an eye on where she ends up – attention’s bound to increase and it’s all deserved.
Thankfully the Toronto audience seemed to settle down a decibel or two by the time headliners Ibeyi came on. They approached the stage with eager smiles, quickly laying themselves and their music on the table with an a cappella introduction of album opener “Eleggua”.
It’s clear that music runs in the family, with both Lisa-Kaindé (keyboard) and Naomi (percussion) stepping up to handle vocals and harmonies, playing off each other as only twins can. It’s music to unite the indie kids and the R&B fans, blending James Blake ear for minimalist electronics to their Afro-Cuban influences. The Paris-based pair also mixed their languages, their lyrics consisting of English and Nigerian-native, Cuban-developed Yoruba.
In an intimate venue like the Mod Club, it’s music that works. You’re close enough to the stage and to the performers to be able to appreciate the nuances and the atmosphere as a whole. Their challenge in the next little while will be working out how to translate this into bigger, more fleshed out sets without losing the closeness. Bigger stages are, after all, bound to follow and while I’d like to think that Naomi’s ability to play percussion on a cajon and on various body parts will translate to something like a festival stage, the reality is that they’ll need to figure out the place for additional, larger-scale elements.
For now, though, and for settings such as Toronto’s Mod Club, the bareness is at a level that works – however just.
Songs like their “Yanira”, “Mama Says”, and “Oya” were devastating and emotional, the sisters balancing optimism with a pretty stark reality: they’re happy but they’ve obviously experienced the tragedies of life. And though the audience was appreciative and respectful of the softer moments, they still hinted at their enthusiasm for electronics – the single, “River”, showing the crowd was up for more movement and would gladly give it over to Ibeyi, should they have more in their arsenal.
So yes, the bareness works for the time being. The intimacy is in their favour (and it’s an intimacy you can experience again when the duo return for NXNE 2015.) But with all that said: I’m just not sure it’s a level that will maintain itself for very long. Ibeyi are bound to win over more hearts and ears and will eventually need to play to bigger crowds. On the bright side… of all the problems to have, that’s a pretty good one to need to work out.
