2022 - UK
Alternative R&B, Trap, UK Bass, UK Hip Hop
First, I just want to remind everyone that this is not an album. It’s a mixtape. This simple fact justifies why Twigs travels from one genre to the other, taking risks to surprise us with some rare underwhelming songs (jealousy, which way, pamplemousse) as if she was exploring the many facets of her personality in order to find the solution to her main problem : being the masterful artist who wrote MAGDALENE three years ago. “ I wish I had help from a deeper force / Some kind of meta angel / Then they could whisper all the answers / And maybe life would just slow down / I don't think that I'll make it on my own.” she sings on meta angel, where you can hear the last reminiscence of MAGDALENE with the introduction’s back vocals.
On tears in the club, she sings about her desire to forget about her toxic past love, whom she felt owned by. This mixtape allows her to reconquer her sexuality after using it as an escaping tool on MAGDALENE’s song daybed. Every track contribute to her healing process. By choosing lightest productions on her songs, Twigs spreads her musical knowledge very casually, so her voice can flow in shapeshifting ways (lightbeamers, honda, darjeeling) and enlightens us on her former struggles, some of them profoundly linked to 2020’s lockdowns. I don’t think she ever had that much fun on her previous albums. She surrounds herself with loving friends and dedicated guests while setting herself free from everybody else’s expectations of constantly creating music based on her intimate wounds.
About thank you song :
But the brightest thing to hear in all this is how she crafts her journey. There is no specific linearity. She begins with love stories and punctual sufferings until this very last song, opening on the gripping lyrics « I wanted to die, I’m being honest / No longer afraid to say it out loud ». All of those love affairs can be heard as metaphors of her relationship to her music. And we need to reach the end to finally acknowledge how hard this healing process was and probably still is. But with her unnering confidence, FKA Twigs proves how glittering her multiple facets are, and it’s a glorious promise.
On tears in the club, she sings about her desire to forget about her toxic past love, whom she felt owned by. This mixtape allows her to reconquer her sexuality after using it as an escaping tool on MAGDALENE’s song daybed. Every track contribute to her healing process. By choosing lightest productions on her songs, Twigs spreads her musical knowledge very casually, so her voice can flow in shapeshifting ways (lightbeamers, honda, darjeeling) and enlightens us on her former struggles, some of them profoundly linked to 2020’s lockdowns. I don’t think she ever had that much fun on her previous albums. She surrounds herself with loving friends and dedicated guests while setting herself free from everybody else’s expectations of constantly creating music based on her intimate wounds.
About thank you song :
But the brightest thing to hear in all this is how she crafts her journey. There is no specific linearity. She begins with love stories and punctual sufferings until this very last song, opening on the gripping lyrics « I wanted to die, I’m being honest / No longer afraid to say it out loud ». All of those love affairs can be heard as metaphors of her relationship to her music. And we need to reach the end to finally acknowledge how hard this healing process was and probably still is. But with her unnering confidence, FKA Twigs proves how glittering her multiple facets are, and it’s a glorious promise.