The Best of New Music Friday:
FKA twigs – EUSEXUA
The immediate hook on FKA twigs third studio album, her first in six years, is that she writes sophisticated lyrics about common life situations and props them on a stage of innovative beats and dance music. The English songwriter and dancer speaks in approachable terms on EUSEXUA. She whispers, “Beautiful boys, I wish you knew how precious you are,” in an auto-tuned voice at the beginning of “Girl Feels Good.” A vibey, dancy beat gradually streams underneath until it explodes into a full-blown leathery bass sounding vibe. “When a girl feels good, it makes the world go ’round // When the night feels young, you know she feels pretty.” Songs like this are commonplace across this record, but they take different forms.
Perhaps no track on EUSEXUA blends lyrical style with innovative production better than “Perfect Stranger,” which was released as a single in October 2024. “I don’t know your friends or your ex’s name // Who left who or who took the blame // I don’t know and I don’t care,” she sings on the second verse. This line is relatable to anyone who’s found themselves suddenly falling for a new person whose flaws haven’t been revealed yet, thus making them a perfect stranger. This song’s poppiness has teed it up to be a dance floor staple for the foreseeable future. The songs “Keep It, Hold It” and “Drums of Death” deserve similar praise.
EUSEXUA also offers a stylized and matured FKA twigs experience. There are lessons that FKA twigs perhaps learned on her 2022 mixtape CAPRISONGS, which came with a looser and more experimental approach than her studio albums MAGDALENE and LP1. The EUSEXUA track “Sticky” has outlandish vocal effects with lyrics cutting in and out but a simple approachable beat. This three minute track is reminiscent of the mixing and styling on her CAPRISONGS track “caprisongs interlude,” which lasts less than 30 seconds.
FKA twigs is clearly unafraid to expand on concepts and turn them into larger ideas. That kind of evolution for an artist who’s already spent more than a decade transforming her genre’s landscape is incredible, and so are all 11 tracks on EUSEXUA. This album deserves consideration as this decade’s best dance album.
New Music Friday Top Picks:
The Backfires – This Is Not An Exit [The Backfires]
Bathe – “Here” [MNRK]
Boilermaker – Not Enough Time to Get Anything Halfway Done [Numero Group]
Central Cee – Can’t Rush Greatness [Columbia]
horsegiirL: V.I.P. – Very Important Pony EP [Three Six Zero]
Larkin Poe – Bloom [Trick-Woo]
OsamaSon – Jump Out [Motion Music/Atlantic]
Sedona – “Best Kept Secret” [Kiss This Records]
Yves Jarvis – “All Cylinders” [In Real Life]
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you add to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!
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