“EUSEXUA” is a state of being. Harnessing the vitality of skimpy leather, cosmic stilettos and boiler rooms heated by hundreds of sweaty bodies, FKA twigs is not letting anything — or anyone — hold her back.
Twigs’ sound has always been exploratory, addictively catchy and profoundly artful. While previous albums like “MAGDALENE” play into concepts and storylines — primary influences including Mary Magdalene and her empowered yet arduous womanhood — “EUSEXUA” tracks a sensation. Twigs describes the album as “a feeling of momentary transcendence often evoked by art, music, sex and unity,” which is entirely evident upon first listen. Drawing vaguely on the dance-electronic outlines of her 2022 mixtape “CAPRISONGS,” twigs takes the pre-existing danciness of these past projects and melds it with occasional Björk-esque cadences to conceive the pop-alt-electro-club record “EUSEXUA.”
The title track and lead single “Eusexua” is less of an opening track and more of a SparkNotes summary of what the next 10 tracks are going to make you feel. Slow, booming kicks open the floodgates of what quickly transforms into a nonstop, hard-hitting club banger. This energy truly begins with “Girl Feels Good,” which is backed by sassy retro arpeggios reminiscent of late ’90s Madonna. “When a girl feels good, it makes the world go ’round,” she chants, a simple, iconic ode to the value of one’s pleasure, femininity and God-given right to dance a little. The rave begins as tracks like “Perfect Stranger” and “Room of Fools” beg listeners to abandon the stress of perception and romanticize the unknown. The repetition of “It feels nice” in “Room of Fools” over a building synth progression and eventual epic bass sequence is a random surge of carelessness, except you’re letting go instead of giving up.
“Keep It, Hold It” and “Sticky” feel like drunken conversations in the bathrooms of basement parties. It’s the moment of quiet right next to a room full of chaos and music, where for a quick second you want to leave, but always find yourself staying. “I’m tired of messing up my life with / Overcomplicated moments,” she seemingly weeps, before ear-maiming bass explosions and grating noises suggest a return to the dance floor, which is where tracks like “Childlike Things” and “Striptease” belong. It contains exceptional production breakdowns in its second half that you just need to listen to completely blind.
“24hr Dog” and “Wanderlust” round out the album in what feels like a slow, submissive and yet celebratory return to reality after the lights in a club turn back on, people flock to the exits and suddenly everyone is human again. Though ephemeral, it is a sensation that — before listening — we don’t realize we actively seek out. With this body of work, not only has FKA twigs expanded our vocabulary, but chosen to do whatever she so damn pleases. This is her sound now.
Contact Ian Sleat at [email protected].