The New Orleans-based, Puerto Rico-born group, ÌFÉ, which was founded by the Crescent City producer and percussionist, Otura Mun, is an electronic music group that specializes in combining aspects of Afro-Cuban folklore and Yoruban religious music with the booming sounds of modern-day Jamaican dancehall, trap, and Afro-beat.
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The band, which released its debut record, IIII+IIII, in 2017, has since made a name for itself, celebrating love, connectedness, and the full hearts that bloom when the right music is in the air and the collection of people are in sync and in motion together.
ÌFÉ, which has recently earned praise from The New York Times and NPR’s Tiny Desk, will release its new album, 0000+0000, on November 5. The band has already released one single from the album”Fake Blood.” Now, American Songwriter is premiering its second single, “Heart Full Of Love,” below.
The new track, which reimagines the Los Angeles soul band The Invincibles’ 1965 rare groove ballad into a psychedelic Afro-Cuban Lamento, reminds listeners that even amidst all the stress and struggle of life, love still reigns supreme. It’s a message that’s needed in our ears now, of course, more than ever.
“Over the last few years,” says Mun, “as my everyday life became increasingly political, I struggled with how to reconcile the type of mindset that knows that ‘Fuck The Police’ is [the] right message, even though I don’t have room for hate in my heart. Hearing The Invincibles sing about having love in their hearts, even though others may not see it so easily, resonated with me.
“Embracing radical love means that we can’t support the institutions that work at the expense of others, like the military, like the empire, capital punishment, the prison industrial complex, and the police. Standing with the oppressed in opposition of the oppressor is always an act of love.”
UPCOMING ÌFÉ TOUR DATES
October 16 – Ace Hotel – New Orleans, LA
November 16 – World Cafe Lounge – Philadelphia, PA
November 17 – Elsewhere – Brooklyn, NY
November 18 – Bombyx – Northampton, MA
November 19 – Black Cat – Washington, DC
0000+0000 Track List:
01 Preludio II [ft. Lex]
02 Fireflies
03 Fake Blood [ft. Robby the Lord]
04 Tu Sabes K Si
05 Wednesday’s Child [ft. Saint Ezekiel]
06 The Tearer (Bembe)
07 Prayer for Shangó
08 Voodoo Economics (WolfMan)
09 Heart Full of Love
10 Mr. Envy
11 Closing Prayer [ft. The London Lucumi Choir]
(Main photo by Trenity Thomas)
