While FKA Twigs has always found herself on the outskirts of the modern-day electronic music landscape, this newest, shimmering effort ‘EUSEXUA‘ sees Twigs truly deploying her mastery of the unorthodox and the erratic to quite possibly its greatest effect.
Defining EUSEXUA as a way of transcending one’s human form through the experience of euphoria, the album’s pulsating self-titled opener introduces us to the concept. As the track’s pulsating drums emanate, Twigs takes us on our first soul-searching session of the album, brimming with layers of electronica “Words cannot describe, baby. This feeling deep inside” perhaps describes the concept best, a concept so deeply un-physical and routed in the spiritual failed by our linguistic tools.
“When a girl feels good, it makes the world go ’round. When the night feels young, you know she feels pretty” is the key takeaway from ‘Girl Feels Good’, with its exuberant Depeche Mode-esque backing, while ‘Drums of Death’ is a glitch-pop haven, a track that trips over and disassembles itself, and reinvents itself all over again throughout the course of its 3 minute 11 second run-time.
Expression is clearly at the forefront of Twigs’ mind in every aspect of this album, her ability as an innovator is common knowledge, but it’s breathtakingly forward-thinking each song manages to be. From the zany dance track ‘Room of Fools’, to ‘Striptease‘, a track very much reflecting some of Twigs’ earlier works but accompanied with this newer, more emboldened sonic palette.
The long player lacks any cohesion, but therein lies its real cohesion, for an album based on this near metaphysical concept, it’s one that binds itself together through this overarching dedication to express some incredibly real feelings and emotions.
EUSEXUA is easily one of this decade’s most prolific and dynamic albums, and heralds FKA Twigs as one of modern music’s greatest talents. Its uncompromising dazzle and flare is one that is unlikely to fade for the years to come.