FKA twigs - EUSEXUA
FKA Twigs finally returns with her long-awaited third studio album. EUSEXUA is a modern electronic masterpiece.
It’s been almost six years since we’ve heard last FKA Twigs album – her second longplay, Magdalene, was released back in 2019. Sure, there was also a mixtape, Caprisongs, but even Twigs herself prefers to present this project as a playlist. Finally, we’ve got EUSEXUA, an album where Tahliah Barnett returns back to her electronic roots.
Much like her previous record, Magdalene, EUSEXUA is an extremely vulnerable album. At this point, you can recall BRAT with its existential, sometimes even depressive lyricism (“I might say something stupid”, “I think about it all the time”), but here Twigs explores her entire soul, the feeling of love and the concept of relationships in particular. On the title track, Barnett reflects on her previous partners, concluding that loving too much is a curse. And right after, on Madonna’s Ray of Light-inspired “Girl Feels Good”, the singer displays the concept of toxic masculinity coming from insecurity and misogyny. Finally, “24hr Dog” portrays FKA Twigs as a hopeless darling, who is ready to do anything to earn the love and attention of her lover.
Besides her songwriting skills, Twigs also shows off as an unapologetic producer, who is always ready to experiment with her sound. This album is difficult to fit into one specific genre: there are some trip-hop, IDM, glitch-pop, trance and even alternative R&B influences. You can never predict where a song is going to go in the middle, which makes it feel like this project is slapping you in the face at the most unexpected moments: take a distortion moment at the end of “Sticky” or a beat drop during “Keep It, Hold It” – one of the craziest I’ve heard in a while. “Striptease”, a song closer to end of the album, may already be considered as one of the greatest in FKA Twigs’ discography, thanks to its gorgeous outro that puts you on a chokehold.
There are some fun moments on this project - the most unexpected surprise was the North West’s appearance on “Childlike Things”. The daughter of the great and terrible Kanye West appears on a Japanese city-pop-inspired track and, unironically, sings her verse in Japanese too.
EUSEXUA is amazing not only for its sound and lyrics, but also for Twigs’ vocal delivery. On “Room of Fools” you hear a singer like you've never heard before: it is something like Kate Bush and Bjork decided to do an European rave party at an abandoned factory. “Drums of Death”, on the other hand, introduces Twigs' vocoded robotic voice over a heavy, glitchy, and fearsome instrumental.
FKA Twigs’ third studio album once again proves that she is one of the greatest artists of our generation. With its transcendental production and sensual lyrics, EUSEXUA is not just an album or aesthetic, it is a lifestyle and a state of mind.
9.0/10