Capturing a moment of the human experience has always been something that FKA twigs has done throughout her discography. Her second studio album, MAGDALENE, displays a raw, painfully honest depiction of navigating hardships in life, while her 2022 mixtape, CAPRISONGS, feels like the perfect depiction of the life that exists within beautiful friendships. On her newly released album, EUSEXUA, twigs has managed to capture the human experience in all of its totality. Driven by a feeling that was indescribable, twigs created the word “eusexua”. Defined throughout the album marketing as “the pinnacle of the human experience”, FKA twigs has crafted her own sense of “eusexua” throughout eleven tracks. Opening the album with the title track leads to a visceral and euphoric moment, with poignant lyrics that create a transcendent experience (“People always told me that I take my love too far, then refuse to help me / I was on the edge of something greater than before, but nobody told me”). Keeping the listener in a euphoric state on the next track is “Girl Feels Good”, an experimental track blending elements of techno, electronic, and 90s’ pop music. “Perfect Stranger” plays into the fun of meeting someone new for the first time over a bouncy and infectious pop sound (“Oh, we can make it work / What we don’t know will never hurt / ‘Cause you’re a stranger, so it’s perfect / You’re a stranger so you’re perfect”).
Throughout the album, there are moments of hard, driving beats that transport the listener to the middle of the dance floor. The bombastic “Drums of Death” features glitchy drums and vocal chops that are impossible to sit still to, while “Room of Fools” depicts the beauty of everyone letting loose on the dance floor with one another (“This room of fools / We make something together / We’re open wounds / The beautiful untethered / And it feels nice”). The bouncy “Childlike Things”, which features North West, is a purely fun and instant earworm as she calls back to her first moments stepping into the industry (“Where the wild things are, I will be / Lost in a world of childlike things and fantasies”). On top of the driving moments that perfectly capture the dance floor, EUSEXUA also encompasses beautifully tender moments. On “Sticky”, twigs gives a mesmerizing vocal delivery over an ethereal sonic landscape before a massive, glitchy outro. “Keep It, Hold It” depicts the struggle of protecting what is important both lyrically and sonically, as the song trashes between more reserved and in-your-face production. The mesmerizing “24hr Dog” is a profound and raw depiction of twigs’ maintaining her own identity within a relationship (“Your love chores distracts me from my worst flaws / Setting free the softest part of me / Gets dangerous sometimes / Feel guilty that it’s getting me high”).
What might be not only the highlight of EUSEXUA, but also of FKA twigs’ discography, is “Striptease”. Utilizing harsh and fragile vocal deliveries, twigs’ sings about the vulnerability of being in a relationship over boundary-pushing futuristic production on this absolute must-listen track. It is here where it is clear that FKA twigs has captured the ability to bring all of her talents into one place, and allow her strengths to come together to create an otherworldly listening experience. “Wanderlust” ends the album on a thoughtful message, reflecting on all that has been (“I see my life in motion / Mistakes in motion / Misplaced emotions”). Leaving the album off on this tone makes it feel as if FKA twigs guides each listener through ways to find their own “eusexua”. It could be losing all concept of time to the dancefloor, or it can be through a moment of self-care. These moments of complete focus that walk the line of total nothingness are some of the most special moments of life, and FKA twigs has made sure to paint the beauty of this. Truly capturing the pinnacle of the human experience, EUSEXUA is an out-of-body experience that fearlessly represents all the moments in life that make us who we are.
- Logan Bandi
