She’s back, Fangirls. Before I even had time to get over the release of her outstanding debut album, FKA twigs returned almost exactly a year later with an EP that is just pure *fire emoji* *fire emoji* *fire emoji*. She pulls at my heart again with her eclectic mix of lush electronics, wild percussion, and that damn voice of hers.
This EP, apparently pronounced “Melissa”, beautifully mixes the expected & unexpected. Twigs has certainly established a sound all of her own, it’s hard to pin down, but it is unmistakably her, and ever present on every song. That of course still happily remains so with M3LL155X, but with every release of twigs’, she seems to be emerging with a better version of her sound. You can her experimenting, growing, and seriously polishing. Not that we even thought she had anything to improve upon from LP1. I think that demonstrates twigs’ brilliance. She only gets better, when she doesn’t even need to. I didn’t think I could fathom a record of her’s better than LP1. Then I quickly fell into obsession with M3LL155X.
Nearly every track on this EP is a perfect example of what makes twigs’ music so incredible. She is making music that challenges your ear, yet still catches it. She fucks with the tempo, adds in all sorts of grinding, sputtering, almost mechanical sounding stuff, and throws in almost discordant moments. Things like that can become almost difficult to listen to, however, it’s the moments of contradicting ambient melodies & keys she adds in that will you to listen. It’s an almost intoxicating phenomenon. “Figure 8” opens the EP, and begins with a pretty straightforward sound. Pulsing bass, that sporadic, sputtering percussion we grew to love on LP1, and her soaring howl. Then, around forty second in, a wall of stuff comes in. A few different melodies, all this white noise. You find yourself searching for a melody or a beat within in, but it quickly retreats. It’s almost abrasive upon first listenings, but twigs has such a brilliant way of smoothing out those chaotic moments she throws at us. That is what makes her music so fucking good. It’s give and take. It feels like this.
Probably my favorite track on the EP is “in time”. It’s got almost trap sounding elements; The shouty chorus, the slow moving, high hat heavy percussion. Whatever it is, I’m so unbelievably into it. Those two cracks that bring you into the chorus, and those previously mentioned shouty vocals, they make me feel some type of way. They’re scratchy, raw, so unlike the rest of her vocals. Her voice is so flighty, wispy, but still a so well controlled, powerful force. But with “in time”, that breaks off in the chorus, erupting into this emotional shout that I want to hear over and over. Followed by the return of her usual ethereal melodies in the verses, it is that same type of contradiction that her music is built upon. I want to wrap myself in it.
Bow down, Fangirls. FKA twigs and M3LL155X deserve a lot more of our time.
All images and characters depicted are copyright of their respective owners.
