Image credit: Young & Atlantic Records
FKA Twigs is no stranger to the world of music both mainstream and underground, and has long operated in the field of various genres, whether that be pop, electronic or RnB. Her work with the likes of A$AP Rocky, Arca, The 1975 and Yung Lean have put her in one of the best spotlights ever for an artist to show their full potential, and her entire discography has proven this since the days of EP1 (2012), only available on Bandcamp. Ever since consuming the emotional transcendence of 2019’s MAGDALENE, I’ve wanted more of this experimentation from her that CAPRISONGS never crafted (still an amazing mixtape either way).
Her third studio album, Eusexua, sees the English singer usher in a sonic experience that is both energetic and ethereal. Twigs coined the word itself to describe a sensation of euphoria so intense that it feels like one transcends human form.
“EUSEXUA IS A PRACTICE. EUSEXUA IS A STATE OF BEING. EUSEXUA IS THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.” That is how Twigs described the whole concept of the album via X, and each track shows this off extraordinarily well. Twigs fully redefines the boundaries of pop from beginning to end with her reflection on her experience of rave and club culture through the instrumentals, and reflects extremely well on her growth as a musician and a person. How can we have an album of the year contender this early on?
I tried my hardest to avoid the singles to get the full experience on the first listen. However, my patience was low but I was honestly left speechless with each track.
The first single and opening track titled ‘Eusexua’ poetically explains to us the main premise of this album, over an ambient electronic instrumental. It’s such an interesting opener when you consider the idea of Twigs redirecting club music into more innovation and experimentation, barely seen nowadays excluding Charli XCX’s hit 2024 album BRAT. The jaw-dropping vocals and production work hand-in-hand together to create such an atmospheric introduction to the world of Eusexua, and the rest of the album carries this on spectacularly, apart from one.
That being said, I found the track ‘Childlike Things’ to be a surprise the day before the album was released when the tracklist indicated that the song would feature none other than Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s eldest daughter North, but was entirely shocked when her entire verse was sung in Japanese about Christianity. Yet Twigs’ performance isn’t worthless and highlights the fun and playful immaturity of Eusexua, it seemed unnecessary to have the feature from North West and felt like a last-minute add. The production is good though.
The rest of the tracklist is perfectly fine. For example, ‘Drums of Death’ is genuinely unlike any pop music I’ve heard before and it signals a return to the mysterious glitchy sampled vocals from Twigs that I fell in love with. The final lyrics ultimately sum up the album in full with Twigs being a diva and serving.
Furthermore, tracks like ‘Sticky’ see Twigs frustrated and feeling bound to have the same situations, all in attempts to express herself over a melodic instrumental inspired by Aphex Twin’s song ‘Avril 14th’. The last 40 seconds of recognising the sample is godly for all electronic and ambient fans.
The biggest highlight from the album has got to be awarded to ‘Striptease’ – it is a full-on masterpiece. The production by Ojivolta, most famously known for his work with Kanye West and Playboi Carti, is clean and is overall a killer beat, with the transition into an underworld drum and bass beat with Twigs’ pretty vocals showing why she is (personally) one of the greats. With the production by Ojivolta, it is clear that this is what Vultures could have been if both Kanye West and Ty Dollar $ign had put more time into both 1 and 2, plus never relied on artificial intelligence to create lame verses.
To finish my scrabble of thoughts, I love this album in many ways. The final send-off ‘Wunderlust’ sheds the rave and club aesthetics the rest of the album evoked, centring instead on Twigs’ voice rather than the instrumental. It’s a very beautiful work of art and one that I guarantee will end up in many Top 10 Albums lists for 2025.
8/10
