EUSEXUA, the long-anticipated third LP by experimental electronic pop artist FKA twigs reaches beyond expectations, crafting a love letter to human experience set against the backdrop of the Rave.
twigs (real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett) has defined the term “eusexua” as many things including true clarity, the moments leading up to an orgasm and the “pinnacle of human experience.” The concept of EUSEXUA is clarified on the glittery opening title track which starts anticipatory and slowly transforms into a transcendent techno beat. All the many definitions she has given are fulfilled in EUSEXUA as twigs embodies her sensuality with the added tension of being on the edge of the unknown.
The love that twigs gained for techno in the famous Prague club scene while filming 2024’s The Crow is apparent in EUSEXUA, as the album presents itself as an ode to dance music. The production stands out with executive producer Koreless’ glitchy, reconstructed dance beats that embody the themes of the record, going so far as to create the track “Drums of Death” partially in Berghain, the highly exclusive Berlin nightclub.
More than any other twigs record, the influences of EUSEXUA are easily identifiable. There are clear elements of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” in trip-hop tracks like “Girl Feels Good,” “Room of Fools” includes vocal elements evocative of Bjork and “Hold It, Keep It” has similarities to Kate Bush’s style.
“Room of Fools” acts as the centrepiece of the record, depicting the reviving and healing aspects of the club, repeating a yodel of “it feels nice” while the atmosphere of the song continuously morphs between jazz and heavy electronic elements. “Perfect Stranger” acts as a more straightforward pop song, more playful in nature. It describes the fun in keeping the identity of a lover as a mystery, stating simply “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
The track “Childlike Things” has been criticised for featuring Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter, North West, bizarrely rapping about her love for Jesus in Japanese. Yet, twigs manages to pull it off, creating a song from a child’s perspective by combining the feature with lyrics she wrote as a child against a bouncy, J-pop-inspired beat.
The album’s closer “Wanderlust” brings through the emotionally vulnerable elements previously less central to the album than is usual for twigs, with airy, autotuned lyrics turning towards the self rather than the wider experience.
EUSEXUA is an album full of sensuality and ethereal moments set against thumping, breaking beats with an undercurrent of emotional devastation, lifting throughout the album to allow relief to break through.
“FKA Twigs 2015” by Bobo Boom is licensed under CC BY 2.0.