FKA Twigs otherwise known as Tahliah Debrett Barnett has been slowly up and coming from the depths of the underground scene into the more mainstream and well known scene of British alternative music. She's back with her follow up album 'EP1' which takes a slight detour however manages to stay on a steady track.
The album stays true to Barnett's style with introductory tracks 'Preface' and 'Lights On', 'When I trust you/We can do it with the lights on' to 'Two Weeks' 'Pull out the insides and give me two weeks/You won't recognize her'. Unusual lyrics compressed into much more unusual beats. With the middle of the album taking a more fleshy turn with 'Pendelum' and 'Video Girl' being less disjointed and more emotional and contemplative. If you've been lucky enough to see her live, you immediatley conjour up her writhing and bopping to these tracks. If you haven't, watch here. She somehow manages to ooze her physical idiosyncrasies through her vocals seamlessly.
'Numbers' takes a step back to the break beat R&B feel, with a soaring vocal, 'Was I just a number to you' shows her vulnerability and her inner desires combined with heartache. Following on with 'Closer', it has a strangely gospel vibe mixed in with a 80's electronic undertone rounded up with broken synth beats. Only FKA twigs. Closing up with 'Give Up' and 'Kicks', it's her instrumentals which really seem to pay testament to her imprint in the scene and the power of great production. 'Kicks' is a haunting, rousing conclusion to the album, 'What do I do when you're not here?' It leaves you in the dark, in silence, wondering when your hair will stop standing on end and the bumps on your arms would go down.
There's something so sensual yet disturbing about FKA that entices you track after track. The enigmatic nature and the broken beat of her music underpins the character of a girl seemingly highly inspired by trailblazers in the past like Bjork and Kate Bush. It's breathtakingly refreshing when an artist is willing to push the boundaries and surpass expectation. The disturbing yet highly enticing theme of Barnett's persona of the 'submissive ragdoll' (reference to that 'Papi Pacify' video) carries forward from not only her lyrics but to the cover of her album where she appears waxen and manneqin-esque. It then poses the question whether Barnett is trying to pose a deeper question of her position in the industry. Is she merely a puppet trying to break free or submit? It seems like her music is the only answer to that question.
9/10
Standout tracks: 'Two Weeks', 'Pendulum', 'Kicks'
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