Watch: Ibeyi - Lavender and Red Roses feat. Jorja Smith

31 March 2022 | 8:30 pm | Will Backler
Originally Appeared In

Irresistibly smooth r&b from Afro-Cuban French twins join forces with Brit-Award winning vocalist ahead of third album.

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Today Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz AKA Ibeyi unveil the latest single from their forthcoming album Spell 31, in the form of the spellbinding Lavender and Red Roses, featuring the stunning vocal talents of the one and only Jorja Smith.

The song came together while Jorja was visiting the studio to hear the full record before falling in love with the track, that subsequently saw her join the twins in an appropriately spiritual music video that sees the trio “embodying the roles of the three sisters of fate on a journey through the desert, attempting to shower the beauty and love of 'Lavender & Red Roses' over a troubled and lost loved one.

Lisa-Kaindé explains “We knew we wanted to create something with Jorja that would be different from what we’ve done previously that would allow us to connect with the true meaning of the song. When we came across the three sisters of fate from the Greek mythology that personify fate we knew immediately that it would be the right idea. Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos are sisters, one of them creates the thread of fate, the other analyses it and the third one cuts it. 

“Lavender and Red Roses” is a  song about the feeling we all experience when we love someone troubled. It could be a partner, a sibling, a parent, a friend. We wanted to talk about the pain of witnessing a loved one hurting, repeating patterns and getting lost. And how it triggers in us the desire to reach them, hold them tight and wash their troubles away with lavender and red roses. But the truth is you can’t save them, if they pull you into their darkness, you will have to protect yourself, and allow them to find their own strength and light, their own way.”

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Ibeyi's new album Spell 31 is out May 6 via XL Recordings / Remote Control Records

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