Eusexua is the third album from British singer-songwriter, FKA twigs (real name Tahliah Barnett). I’ve reviewed both of her previous albums, 2014’s LP1 and 2019’s Magdalene, both of which I enjoyed immensely, so I was quite excited for this project. Here are my thoughts.

     The name of the album, “Eusexua,” was a word actually created by Barnett, which in her words meaning a feeling of “momentary transcendence.” The minimalist dance pop production on the title track, which is also the first track and lead single on the record, complements her airy beautiful vocals quite nicely. It’s almost as if this album’s main theme is becoming something beyond human. Following that, is the track, “Girl Feels Good,” which has heavy techno influences, and is relatively brief but has a heavy female empowerment theme. “Perfect Stranger,” might be my favorite song on the entire album as it has this really catchy beat and chorus. I like the message of letting people’s personal lives be a mystery to each other and just embracing the current moment. I really wasn’t a fan of “Drums of Death,” as the drums and robotic filters just felt a bit overbearing to me, but “Room Of Fools,” had a really cool Eurodance throwback sound to it, and that Middle Eastern-influenced outro is absolutely gorgeous. “Sticky,” is a song that uses insects and snakes as a interesting analogy for body image and low self-esteem regarding intimacy and relationships. It might be controversial to some, but “Childlike Things,” featuring North West, (Kanye and Kim Kardashian’s oldest daughter), actually really slaps. For some reason, North really seems to love rapping in Japanese, but it’s a much better track than “BOMB,” off of Vultures 2. “Striptease,” another single from the album, has a heavy trap-influenced sound, and twigs’ voice sounds absolutely angelic on it, and the different filters on her voice sound really alien and ethereal. This easily might be Barnett’s most experimental work in her career, which is really saying a lot, as a lot of her music is very different than most mainstream contemporary music. It doesn’t fall under the traditional pop genres, as this record really does feel like an amalgamation of dance pop and house music, which wasn’t really present on her previous two records. Barnett uses a lot more autotune on this album as well, but it doesn’t sound forced, and her voice is strong enough that she doesn’t need to overdo it, she uses it as a way to add layers to her voice and provide this synthetic, alien-like sound to the record. I really enjoyed “24hr Dog,” and “Wanderlust,” as well, as the latter track serves as an absolutely beautiful outro, with gorgeous vocal range from Barnett, laidback electronic production, and just an overall warm sound.

    While I personally feel that Eusexua isn’t as strong of an album as Magdalene, it’s still a fantastic album nonetheless. I was looking forward to this project from the moment it first got announced, and for the most part it didn’t disappoint. The sound twigs went for on this record isn’t going to be for everyone, but I greatly admire the direction she went in. It can be a little bit all over the place, and the album feels like it’s less heavily thematic in comparison to her last two albums, but that isn’t a bad thing whatsoever. Sometimes it’s good for art to be open to interpretation to the listener, as it focuses more on creating an overall vibe. Still what Barnett has done in her career musically has never failed to amaze me, she continues to reinvent herself while staying true to herself in the process, and creating genre-bending and impactful art as a result.

Overall Score: 9/10

Favorite Tracks: “Eusexua,” “Girl Feels Good,” “Room Of Fools,” “Perfect Stranger,” “Sticky,” “Striptease,”

Least Favorite Tracks: “Drums of Death,"

Listen: https://youtu.be/3RIgaIW4ww0?si=PcS1JRp-FBapXs_a

Genres: Art Pop/Electronic/Dancepop/House