On Jan. 24, British musician FKA twigs released her third studio album “EUSEXUA.”
FKA twigs, aka Tahliah Barnett, is a genre-bending, visionary artist whose work frequently combines electronic music, art pop, R&B and avant-garde styles. She is frequently likened to artists such as Kate Bush and Björk due to her sonic innovation and eccentric visual aesthetic. While there are certainly similarities between them, FKA twigs’ music is like a world of its own — one that is impossible to categorize or compare.
Her voice is both silky and forceful, able to transport listeners from the highs of ecstasy to the depths of despair with ease.
FKA twigs coined the word ‘eusexua’ to “describe the sensation of being so euphoric that you transcend human form,” according to British Vogue.
That feeling permeates the record; on each track, FKA twigs explores how shared experiences like sex and dancing bring joy and beauty into our lives.
“EUSEXUA” is the furthest FKA twigs has leaned into dance music. However, in an interview with British Vogue, she clarified that the album is more of “a love letter to how dance music makes (her) feel.”
The record opens with the title track, which also served as its lead single. “EUSEXUA” begins with a firm yet subdued series of beats, before bursting open to let FKA twigs’s haunting vocals pierce through the darkness.
“Wonder how you feel, this feeling deep inside, words cannot describe,” FKA twigs sings, revealing the essence of the album in its opening lines. The same series of beats are a motif found throughout the song, one that at first keeps FKA twigs tethered to reality and then, as the song explodes into pure techno euphoria at the bridge, one that sets her free. She returns to earth with a grounding outro, wherein she reflects on the ways past friends and lovers have held her back from taking flight as her true self.
On “Girl Feels Good,” FKA twigs channels the simultaneously chill and ecstatic ‘90s output of Björk and Madonna, particularly their respective records “Homogenic” and “Ray of Light.” Like the legends who have come before her, FKA twigs recognizes the potential that pop music has to be visionary and fantastical — if it’s done well, it can feel like a direct transmission from the heavens above. The song’s production is freewheeling yet impeccably controlled; FKA twigs may venture off into experimental flourishes for a moment here or there, but everything is done with intention.
“Perfect Stranger” is one of the record’s most straightforward expressions of desire, in which FKA twigs celebrates the temporary pleasure of meeting someone on the dancefloor and spending the night with them. While the song is one of the least experimental tracks on “EUSEXUA,” FKA twigs nevertheless imbues it with a sense of adventure that sets it apart from mainstream pop songs with similar sentiments.
On the other hand, “Drums of Death” is perhaps the record’s most avant-garde moment — a glitchy, abrasive track in which FKA twigs continues the album’s exploration of the euphoria invoked through sex. This is FKA twigs at her most unabashed; she knows that her music will not be for everyone, and she doesn’t care.
On “Room Of Fools,” FKA twigs revels in the communal joy of dancing and how it beckons to her with the promise of freedom and healing. She compares her and her fellow revelers to fools for tuning out the perils of the world outside of the nightclub, while acknowledging the necessity of escapism. It’s a beautiful, richly crafted song that sees FKA twigs tackle multiple facets of the human condition with nuance and vulnerability.
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“Childlike Things,” which features North West — the eldest daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian — singing in Japanese, sees FKA twigs exploring the beauty and joy of childhood, and how she can best recapture those feelings. The bubblegum pop song is quite catchy and enjoyable on its own, but doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the record, with West’s addition coming across especially purposeless.
“Striptease” is pure sex distilled in a song, with FKA twigs flaunting her beauty and her worth over production that sounds like an experimental take on 2000s club music. Toward the end, the song morphs into a drum and bass track complete with Shakira-esque backing yodels.
FKA twigs throws everything but the kitchen sink into “EUSEXUA,” but it works because of her commitment to venturing to places that other artists haven’t dared to go sonically. Her vast knowledge of pop and electronic music allows her to move through subgenres and styles with ease.
“EUSEXUA” is a brilliant album that sounds unlike any other contemporary dance or pop record, further proving that FKA twigs is a once-in-a-generation talent.
Elijah Ritch is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. They can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
