XL Vinyl & CDs

Review: Ibeyi are French Afro-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kainde and Naomi Diaz. Their latest album Spell 31 is their boldest offering yet; an antidote to apathy in a divided world, featuring vocal harmonies that take in gospel and electronic neo soul influences, further refined by XL Recordings boss Richard Russell's brilliant production throughout. Collaborators include Pa Salieu on 'Made Of Gold', singer Jorja Smith on 'Lavender & Red Roses', and rapper BERWYN on 'Rise Above'.

Review: XL Recordings presents the long-awaited repress of keiyaA's 2020 album Forever, Ya Girl. The singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist was raised in Chicago's South Side; now based in New York, her jazz training, R&B sensibilities, and hip-hop inheritability are all deployed to full effect, crafting an experimental soul sound inundated with powerfully sultry voice and dense lyricism. Aiming to to foreground the standpoint and intellect of the black woman in the late-stage capitalist landscape, Forever, Ya Girl brings a sawn-off, digital neo-soul inflection to themes of struggle and grace, all while deploying many a quirky interjection and voice-modded sample between the beats.

Review: Norwegian duo Smerz are experts at duality and creating tension between two opposites, be that dark and light, warmth and cold or tension and release. There is a real air of menace to this record for XL that layers zombie vocals over busted synths and murky breaks. Some tracks are bight and dazzling, others are swaggering and ominous like 'Rain' with its big strings and air of Bjork sound design. Recorded over three years and drawing on the members' time in youth choirs, this is an expansive and accomplished record.