Magdalene - FKA Twigs: Review
is a British R&B singer who emerged around the halfway point of this decade with a brilliant and near universally acclaimed debut record, 2014's LP1. She followed this up quickly in 2015 with the genre-bending M3LL155X EP which was also met with tons of critical acclaim, and we haven't heard from her in a full length format since.
Review By Lavender:
When it comes to FKA Twigs debut album LP1 I agree with just about everyone else on earth, in that it is fantastic and one of the best R&B releases of this entire decade. I felt just as strongly about her EP the next year as she combined the worlds of indie, trip hop and electronica into her sound, and then kind of vanished, at least musically. As if I couldn't be more excited to hear from her again after a 4 year absence, the lead single to this thing and her first official release in years, is one of the best songs I've heard in 2019. Now that it is here Magdalene seems to live up to just about every expectation I could have possibly had for it, and its one of the best records I've heard in 2019.
Lets talk about that lead single Cellophane. The song is an emotional, intimate and flat out gorgeous closer to the record that is even more potent here than it was as a standalone single. There's nothing I could say about the track that hasn't already been said by everyone else on earth who have also dished out praise to it but just know that this era got off to about the best start it possibly could. The second single from the record had me skeptical at first, but I've really come around to it. holy terrain features Future of all people on it and the combination didn't have my mouth watering, but the more I listen to how his spaced out vocals match perfectly with Twigs psychedelic musings the more I've enjoyed the track. The song is genuinely an effective combination of Twigs experimental R&B style with Future's contemporary trap flare.
The next single is the weakest one, and one of the only tracks here I have any real problem with. home with you just doesn't have as good vocals as the rest of these tracks here. Her singing isn't the problem as we can tell when the vocal effects fade out, but they are more distracting than its worth for the better part of the song. The track also has some of the most underwhelming instrumental moments when it gets stark for seemingly no reason, and doesn't really match the progression in the track otherwise. While we're here I should talk about the only other track of the bunch I didn't love, daybed. The song is just so lowkey and the breathy vocal delivery Twigs brings doesn't really do a whole lot for me. The biggest victim is the songwriting as the track just feels like it takes absolutely forever to get to any real progression happening, and even though the final minute or so is gorgeous, getting there is difficult.
The final single was another incredible one sad day, the track features one of her best and most dramatic performances, absolutely crushing the "make a wish" refrain on the bridge. The song is totally beautiful and features a percussion breakdown that sounds straight out the Bjork playbook circa 1995. There is more Bjork influence to be found in the track fallen alien with a jittery electronic instrumental that is both unsettling and gorgeous. Twigs singing is beautiful as she soars over the stripped back piano riffs in the songs second half and she effectively switches between a powerful singing voice and a standoffish aggression flawlessly.
thousand eyes is the somber and stripped back opening track which features some distant keys and warbled bass hits filling its huge and spacey background. Twigs vocals are layered over each other making the track feel like an icy whirlwind through blank space, the songwriting is a little bit loose but each individual passage is incredibly effective, and the track gets the record off to a great start. mirrored heart is definitely one of the more direct tracks as Twigs is crystal clear in both her lead and steady backing vocals. The instrumental has a much more straightforward, warm R&B vocal that would have fit in more on LP1 than Magdelene, but sounds great regardless.
Finally the one song I hadn't heard yet going into the record that flat out blew me away was mary magdalene.The track is both the emotional and thematic centerpiece of the entire record which fittingly lands right in the middle. The song has a fantastic sparse beat flanked by frigid keys and booming percussion hits coming out of nowhere. Despite all this great stuff it is really Twigs that shines here both in her fantastic performance and the actual lyrics she is delivering. The song fittingly provides this in one of her most straight-forward vocal deliveries I've ever heard her give. A seriously amazing song from top to bottom.
Magdalene is everything I expected from a long awaited comeback for FKA Twigs, and possibly even more. Every time I thought the record couldn't get any better it pulled a new punch, and even in its weakest moments it stands head and shoulders above so much of what I've heard this year. Twigs is almost unrivaled in her creativity and pairing that with her immense vocal talent and abstract storytelling ability makes Magdalene one of the most awe inspiring and significant records you'll hear from just about anywhere in 2019. 9.5/10
