I’m so excited to review British singer, songwriter and dancer FKA twigs’ music. It brings me so much joy to see talented women rocking the music world, especially women of color. Sadly, twigs is often touted in the media as actor Robert Pattinson’s partner … and not much else. I want to highlight her music because I believe her talent and prowess speaks for itself. twigs hardly needs Pattinson’s fame to succeed in the music industry or gain well-deserved celebrity.
twigs has been on my radar since late 2014. In fact, it was her septum piercing and the beautiful, elegant gold jewelry she wears in it that inspired me to get mine pierced. Of course, I can’t rival her perfect pout or artistic prowess: twigs is a talented dancer and singer, and beautiful to boot. Before launching her music career, she worked as a backup dancer in music videos for artists like Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran and Jessie J, according to twigs’ Wikipedia page.
twigs landed on the music scene in 2012 with her debut EP, “EP1,” and followed up with another EP in 2013, “EP2.” According to her Wikipedia page, she signed on to the record label Young Turks for “EP2” and has stuck with the label ever since. Her first full-length studio album, “LP1,” landed in 2014 and her music career started to pick up steam.
In August 2015, twigs released her most recent EP, “M3LL155X” (pronounced “Melissa”). With singles titled “I’m Your Doll” and “Figure 8,” the EP is reminiscent of the xx’s spacey, synthy pop instrumentals. twigs’ voice is haunting, almost a whisper, and fits perfectly with the creepy vibe of this EP.
In “Figure 8,” twigs paints a haunting image of an aggressive, domineering angel with lyrics like, “My back wings give the hardest slap that you’ve ever seen.” Her vocals echo throughout the song; paired with mechanical-sounding synth tracks, the song hits the listener hard. Similar instrumentals bleed into “I’m Your Doll,” which is one of my favorite of the five tracks on the EP. I can’t quite put my finger on why I love this track so much. Perhaps it’s twigs’ marriage of unsettling lyrics with distant, disharmonious instrumentals that makes for a song that truly packs a punch.
“In Time,” however, is my ultimate favorite track from “M3LL155X.” The song is definitely catchier and easier to listen to than the previous two tracks. twigs’s vocals in the chorus, which are edited into a robotic chant, juxtapose beautifully with her soft, high-pitched background vocals and the spacey instrumentals in the song.
“Glass & Patron,” though musically interesting as a whole, is my least favorite track. The track feels too disjointed for my listening pleasure, almost as though twigs crammed three or four different songs into one four-minute-long track. It’s a little too experimental for my music taste, with too many layered electronic tracks and too much background noise. The EP’s last track, “Mothercreep,” really allows twigs’ vocal skills to shine through. This song ends the EP on a strong note, while still sending that same haunting chill up the listener’s spine.
twigs’ music is something I wouldn’t normally gravitate towards, so I’m surprised by how much I love her musical style. I love how her music seems to defy specific categorization; twigs’ style walks the line between electronic music, dance music and synth-pop.