FKA Twigs is one of those artists with whom I feel grateful to exist at the same time. I’ve known about her since 2019’s MAGDALENE, but digging into her work from her first album LP1, from 2014 until now, she has crafted an impeccable discography. Now, she has offered another stellar project with her third album, EUSEXUA. Inspired by her experiences going to Raves in Berlin where no one knew who she was, Twigs delivers songs with infectious beats and wild switch-ups detailing the highs and lows of escapism, vices, and human connection.
FKA Twigs has always been a forward tastemaker of art pop, and here, the sounds of Eusexua are made for the club scene. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel Live, Twigs stated her spark of inspiration came from how she “ obsessed with alternative cultures and subcultures, so to be somewhere brand new that I’d never been, that kind of amazing East Bloc techno warehouse raves, techno kids, I just couldn’t resist.” Twigs takes dance sounds and deconstructs them to make a new heaven. From trance, EDM, techno, glitch pop, Twigs as the musical nymph mixes, each flying along the emotionally raw and carefree tightrope.
Production-wise, my favorite is the aggressive demand dance track of Drums of Death, elegenatly sounding like a computer being put through blender into technology confetti.” Another thing I have to commend the team involved is the construction of these tracks. Songs like Rooms of Fools, Striptease, Sticky, and more will randomly switch up with beat changes or Twigs taking a completely new vocal style. Many of us who have fallen in love with Twigs’ music note how earth-shattering her songs are, and she continues to hold up that quality.
Eusexua, as Twigs defines it in her Discord, is “a state of being. A feeling of momentary transcendence is often evoked by art, music, sex, and unity. Eusexua can be followed by a surge of bliss and feelings of limitless possibility. Also used to refer to the pinnacle of Human Experience.” The tracklisting details Twigs immersing in the pleasures of dancing, femininity, and relationship, both at their surface and deeper meanings. Perfect Stranger is Twigs detailing how much she enjoys the little she knows of her partner, just diving deep into lush and rapture. Rooms of Fools is about the chaotic cluster of people thrashing around the club, creating their movement. Striptease is about being vulnerable and opening up to a partner and the liberation that comes with it. My overall favorite, the album closer, Wanderlust is Twigs in the aftermath of her escapism, pleading to her loved ones to bring her back to them when she is caught up in chasing wonder and excitement. She reassures them that she is here for them when she is not lost in her head. The lyrics for me are “I got violent in a rage when I’m sat alone/ I can criticise the world when I’m sat at home in bed.” Each track is a step on the road of seeking to escape and coming back to your world in the end.
Eusexua is another phenomenal body of work from FKA Twigs. Its release at the end of January feels poignant in a time where people like myself are desperately clinging to vices that allowed us to mindlessly enjoy. Here, Twigs shows she can find herself in that same boat. While, of course, joy is an essential part of being alive, escapism can be detrimental to ourselves and the communities we belong to in the real world. Twigs adds another notch to her belt of 1-of-1 avant-garde music creations.
