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| ID: Album cover of Eusexua by FKA twigs |
Then sonically it just goes completely off the rails.
The second track (Girl Feels Good) sounds like it was beamed in directly from 1999 as a rejected credits song from The Matrix, followed by Perfect Stranger, which sounds like a pop song you could have theoretically heard on the radio around five years ago (though it probably would be the absolute best song in rotation at that time). After this, the album splits itself between these two types of tracks: the less common being more typical sounding twigs songs but with a more techno and dance oriented style (Sticky, Keep It, Hold It, Striptease and 24hr Dog) which, while all very good, do seem less interesting to talk about than the unexpected experiments on the album. In an attempt to figure out what’s going on here I’m going to run through them all.
Drums of Death has to be one of the best songs I’ve heard in ages (though I’ll admit I’m struggling to find anyone who agrees with me) with its sung chorus combined with fractured and electronically manipulated spoken word vocals, set to the backdrop of drums which have somehow been designed to be completely skull crushing (appropriate given the title I suppose).
Room of Fools sounds like Björk so much I would honestly be surprised if it wasn’t originally conceived as a full on collaboration between the two - in the second half of the song twigs even seems to adopt Björk’s most distinctive vocal cadences (it’s hard to describe exactly but also you know it as soon as you hear it).
Childlike Things can only be described as certainly a choice - a J-pop styled song which for some reason features North West rapping in Japanese. Insert as many confused question marks as you desire. I can’t say the song fully works for me - I would probably be more charmed by it if it weren’t for the feature from the child of someone now best known for loudly and repeatedly endorsing Adolf Hitler - but it is at least an even more unexpected left turn in an album full of them.
That then brings me to the final song, Wanderlust, which sounds like one of the more subdued songs on Brat, right down to the auto-tuned almost spoken word vocals and the confessional text-style lyrics.
I’m struggling to know what to make of this album. On the one hand, especially with it being six years since the last proper FKA twigs album, it is very nice to simply hear a collection of new songs with her voice. On the other hand, I think it is slightly disappointing to hear something that sounds somewhat less singular than would be expected from her. But if the music feels this good, does it really matter?
Other Recent Albums I Have Also Enjoyed
- choke enough by Oklou - minimalist electronic pop, very fun and good to relax to
- Perverts by Ethel Cain - I’m aware I’m one of the three people who unironically really liked this
- Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - kind of gothy post-punk/rock - very fun in a doom and gloom type of way
- Ghostholding by venturing (Jane Remover) - unexpected full on shoegaze album that I have had on repeat
Bonus: Wild Things My Friend Hannah Sent Me While Listening To Eusexua
- “What is Eusexua supposed to sound like” (after listening to the song Eusexua)
- “Slay (no further response)” (while I explain why Girl Feels Good sounds like the Matrix soundtrack)
- “Idk how I’d feel if I heard it in the club”
- A completely insane theory about how Sticky is a subversion of IDGAF by Dua Lipa based on them having the same melody “is that significant because in this song she does gaf”
- “The North West part sounds fine it’s just like why is this happening”
- “That penultimate song is very pet core”