Singer-songwriter FKA Twigs released her third album, “Eusexua,” on January 24th with a total of 11 songs. The album explores the artist’s sense of self as an artist. The title track is the same as the name of the album and encapsulates the entire feeling while listening to the album, the word “Eusexua” is a made-up word by Twigs, but what does it actually mean?
In an interview with Vogue, she describes the state of Eusexua as “It’s also the moment before I get a really good idea of pure clarity.” It’s also important to note that the word is a mixture of the words, “euphoria” and “sexuality”.
The title track “Eusexua”, shows the growth that Twigs was searching for in her career.
“I was on the edge of something greater than before but nobody told me” is what she sings at the end of the song, with an airy-glitchy tone in her voice. This lyric could be a reference to one of her older songs titled “Meta Angel” where she speaks about how she feels shy to do things as an artist and wants to be more confident, and Eusexua is the opposite of that, she has gained that confidence to be able to freely express herself.
“Eusexua” then transitions into the hyper song “Girl Feels Good” which talks about the female experience. When listening to this song I felt empowerment rushing through me, it made me feel that I can do anything that I set my mind to as long as I have the right determination and drive. I envision listening to this song while strutting on the runway or something like that.
My personal favorite from the album, “Perfect Stranger,” is an alluring song in its entirety. The way I interpreted the song is struggling to form a connection with a stranger who has baggage from the past, but continuing forward in trying to see who they are beneath it.
Then “Drums of Death” is a song you could listen to inside of a club and despite its shortness in length, it is such a treat to the ears.
Making our way to the meat of the album, tracks such as “Room of Fools”, “Sticky” and “Keep It, Hold It” all match each other’s freak in the way that the songs read as a journal entry that lets us as listeners dive into Twig’s thoughts and feelings. This trio of songs is beautiful in the way that she mentions themes such as feeling empty, looking for escape, and the feeling of not trying hard enough.
Moving onto the most controversial song “Childlike Things” is a bubbly upbeat song that consists of North West, the daughter of rapper-singer, Kanye West. She is chanting in Japanese throughout the chorus of the song. However, many fans are sharing confused glances about what was the reason that Twigs chose a child as the feature.
“Striptease” is a high-energy song that is the pinnacle of sexuality, as it exudes empowering energy all while being vulnerable. Twigs isn’t afraid of vulnerability and has expressed this theme in many of her songs.
At the beginning of “24hr Dog”, the way that the song starts with an eerie reminds me of a dog howling and I don’t know if that was Twig’s intention but it would make sense. Even within the entirety of the song, it sounds like Twigs is howling as she sings, it is so airy and light and it almost makes me feel as if I’m floating.
The album closes with “Wanderlust”, a song that doesn’t have many instrumentals. It is not as upbeat, but it offers something different compared to the previous tracks. “Mistakes in motion, Misplaced emotions, I get violent in a rage when I’ve sat alone”, it sounds as if Twigs reflects on her mistakes from the past and understands how she’s grown since then, or maybe in reality she’s still the same person.
After the first listen of the album, there are bits and pieces that you may miss out on, so a second and third listen are needed to catch onto the artistry that is Eusexua. FKA Twigs doesn’t get nearly as much recognition for her powerful lyricism, her dance, and her creativity; she gives so much of herself as an artist. Overall, her album expresses a deep vulnerability while also giving listeners something to feel empowered by.
