Continuing her yearning for connection, she conceptualizes her next release with a word that best fits that road to an immense passion: ‘Eusexua’. FKA Twigs’ newest album proceeds to nestle within contemporary techno and pulsating beauty to reach transcendence that’s only let down by compositional and structural issues that can’t be overlooked.
One thing that has always made FKA twigs’ albums a treat to go back to despite their flaws is the volume of resonance that they always leave behind, not just towards the music itself wherein FKA twigs can sing gorgeously and write an emotive story that’s compelling, but also to other aspects beyond it - most especially towards dancing, live performances, and just branching her connections out to an array of creative reference points and people that has moved her entire being as an artist, eventually building upon experimental touchpoints on her past couple of EPs and albums that pulled in a lot of people towards her fascinatingly enrapturing world. The aspect of connection became an essential part of her life as the 2020s moved in, especially as FKA Twigs was going through the lowest points during the early 2020s - specifically the isolation brought by the pandemic and the turmoil she went through with her past breakup - eventually stepping herself into yearning for more connections as a way for her to heal and lift herself up, something that ‘Caprisongs’ specifically focused upon as a mixtape that gave her room to showcase a looseness to a lot of her performances. Three years since that mixtape, that essential yearning continues to carry through on her newest album, ‘Eusexua’.
‘Eusexua’ is an album that steps in as one of FKA Twigs’ accessible projects in terms of its soundscapes, pulling in Koreless to produce a swath of beats that straddles the line of contemporary techno grooves and ethereal layers of sound design, giving enough space for FKA Twigs’ beautiful vocals to weave through these mixes. That part alone leads to songs that manage to show the striking moments of the record, such as the crescendo of ‘Eusexua’ that glides through with a lightly evocative touch, the stable groove of ‘Perfect Stranger’ that gives enough sway for that catchy hook, the vocal harmonies across the spiritual acoustics of ‘Keep It, Hold It’ that builds up to this satisfying beat that doesn’t sacrifice the impact of the song, the Imogen Heap-inspired electronica of ‘24hr Dog’ with all of its shambling production touches that works effectively with the warbling processing of FKA twigs’ hushed vocal cooing, and the heavenly vocal swells of ‘Wanderlust’ that leads to the breakbeat and simmering guitar passages to swirl around said vocals and eventually fading off into the distance.
It’s also important to note that ‘Eusexua’ eventually continues off of ‘Caprisongs’ in terms of its overall themes, with FKA Twigs’ grasping upon the concept of “Eusexua” that’s described as the stasis before that immense satisfaction pouring through, whether that be in a creative, social, or even a sensual perspective. This overall thematic concept weaves in through the record's writing, where FKA Twigs continues to find healing and beauty in the presence of other people as well as the dance floor, the important parts of her life that give her the freedom to grasp a certain transcendence from her limits as a person, both in the physical and the emotional aspects. It is a desire rooted in moving past the subtle ache of people not helping her thrive as they complain about her continuous passion and the unnerving feeling of being alone in eventually reaching that transcendence, feeling all accomplished but still not exactly delighted.
But for all the writing and performances that set up that gleaming euphoria, ‘Eusexua’ is unfortunately riddled with problems that give more distance to that desire. The flow that stumbles every other song might be one thing, but the glaring components sadly come from other elements: the melodies across ‘Sticky’ and ‘Drums of Death’ that don’t build to a fully striking note, specific vocal deliveries that take away from the feel of the song on cuts like ‘Striptease’ and ‘Room Of Fools’, and just the overall production display that may create a refined balancing point between FKA Twigs’ more accessible and experimental tangents yet leave so many of these songs lacking in sharp melodic directions that would complement the thematic essence of the record. Not exactly helped out with a song like ‘Childlike Things’ where despite the decent hook, the Japanese verse from North West just makes the song feel detached from the rest of the record.
For as much as ‘Eusexua’ aims for an experience that’ll pull forth an immaculate resonance from its thematic arc, there are just way too many fickle issues that keep the record from fully going to the top. At its best, FKA Twigs still musters a lot of magnetism as a performer and a writer whenever Koreless’ production gives enough vibrant charm to the grooves and the textures, but a lot of the songs, unfortunately, don’t really have that charm, hence leaving a lot of the songs to fizzle out without any intriguing sonic idea that leaps out to reach the yearning that the writing profess. In looking for that Eusexua state of mind, the road leading there sadly doesn’t come off as resonating as it should be.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Eusexua’, ‘Perfect Stranger’, ‘Keep It, Hold It’, ‘24hr Dog’, ‘Wanderlust’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Childlike Things’