“EUSEXUA is a mixture of this psychedelic, childlike playful exploration of what it is to be human but mixed with an undertone of raw, dirty, hard sexual grit.”
“EUSEXUA is the moment before an orgasm”
“Eusexua is for the girls who find their true selves under a hard metal silver stiletto on the damp rave floor”
“Eusexua is a moment of clarity”
There have been many explanations of the (sort-of) portmanteau that makes up the title of FKA Twigs‘ third album. In it, the alt-pop outlier has conceptualised a state of being: a hunt for the ultimate plane, a feeling of being at one with your body, being overwhelmed by a tsunami of bliss. Whether you find that on a sweaty Berlin dancefloor, in a burst of creativity or a moment of sexual euphoria, she leaves up to you.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Twigs. 2022’s ‘Caprisongs’ was a guest-packed mixtape, less conceptual than 2019’s stunning ‘Magdalene’ – an album that found Twigs on the brink after all-consuming heartbreak. Here we find a very different woman – one who has found herself again through the healing power of the dancefloor
Title track and opener ‘Eusexua’ is propulsive and heady – Twigs’ ethereal vocal, the cold hands on your flushed cheeks. It has an air of ‘Ray Of Light’-era Madonna about it, but grittier, grimier.
‘Drums of Death’ is glitchy and industrial, “Feel hot, feel hard, feel heavy / Fuck who you want / Baby girl, do it just for fun” purrs Twigs seductively. ‘Keep It, Hold It’ starts slow, hinting at past traumas (‘what have I got to do?”) questions Twigs, over a meditative choral recital of ‘Keep it, hold it’ before the track loses its resolve and descends thrillingly into a house beat.
Perhaps the only head-scratcher is ‘Childlike Things’, where Twigs ropes in literal child, North West to sing in Japanese about how much she loves Jesus. Not sure why, but it’s an earworm, if possibly a slightly culturally insensitive one?
‘Eusexua’ is a club record, at heart, one that couldn’t possibly be enjoyed to its fullest potential outside of the dancefloors it was made for. But even on the tube, on a grey Tuesday morning it is somehow transportative, tingling the rave senses, awakening something inside that propels you to gently move your head from side to side, close your eyes and feel something… or remember something… that might well be best described as Eusexua.
