“We’re like opposites,” says Ibeyi percussionist Naomi Díaz. “Yin and yang.” She is referring to her relationship with her fraternal twin and bandmate, singer-pianist Lisa-Kaindé Díaz, who is sitting beside her during a Skype interview from Toronto. Lisa-Kaindé agrees and offers, “I think it’s pretty obvious. You meet us, and in two minutes you realize that we are really, really, really different.”

The 20-year-old French-Cuban sisters’ contrasting personalities play a crucial role in the music they make as Ibeyi, which spans moody jazz and minimalist electro-soul. They also draw on traditional chants that reflect their family ties to the Yoruba people of western Africa. (Their band name is the Yoruba word for “twins”.)

“We have two musical worlds that are completely different,” says Lisa-Kaindé, who is heavily inspired by vintage jazz singers. Naomi, on the other hand, claims primary responsibility for the pair’s electronic leanings. “I’m a huge fan of hip-hop,” she enthuses.

The siblings combined their divergent interests when they recorded their recently released self-titled debut album with XL Recordings boss Richard Russell, a producer who has worked with Gil Scott-Heron and Damon Albarn. He gave Ibeyi freedom to experiment during the recording sessions and was supportive of the duo’s decision not to use any backing musicians.

“He wasn’t afraid of us being young and having no studio experience,” Lisa-Kaindé remembers gratefully. “We said to him we wanted to be the only ones to play on this album, and he said okay.”

This less-is-more approach works wonders on “Mama Says”, a haunting jazz ballad that sports a stark soundscape of sustained piano chords, hand percussion, and ka-chunking electronic beats. Elsewhere, Lisa-Kaindé’s gorgeously fluttering melody on “Stranger/Lover” is anchored by Naomi’s hip-hop groove, while the instrumentation of the hymnlike “Oya” resembles a robo-choir. The LP is bookended by a pair of short a cappella tracks, which are sung in tandem by the sisters in Yoruba.

Lisa-Kaindé wrote most of the songs, with Naomi adding percussion and their mother and uncle helping out with some of the lyrics. The sisters’ father, Miguel “Angá” Díaz, was also an important influence, despite having died when the twins were just 11. He didn’t teach them music, but his role as a percussionist in Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club continues to inspire his daughters.

“He was a great musician, so we knew that it was possible to be a musician, and that it is a great job,” Naomi says. “It’s a passion, but it’s a job, too. It’s a hard job. We cannot say that it’s easy. It’s hard to tour, even if we’re so happy to do that. Without knowing, he showed us that it was possible to do that.”

Touring may be difficult work, but Ibeyi’s close family bonds give the performances a special chemistry. “Being twins helped us to meet musically and to connect musically, and on-stage there’s really something different,” Lisa-Kaindé observes. “When we’re on-stage, we understand each other without words.”

Ibeyi plays Fortune Sound Club on Monday (April 6).