On The Lively ‘CAPRISONGS’, FKA Twigs Is As Compelling As Ever
‘It gave me a lot of confidence...to push myself to channel my pain and anxiety into work that felt more inclusive and dare I say joyful’ writes FKA Twigs about her 3rd album. If this was the goal of ‘CAPRISONGS’, then it has certainly been achieved. Across 17 songs, Twigs weaves her distorted falsetto through a range of genres and features to produce a massively enjoyable album.
FKA Twigs’ (real name Tahliah Barnett) work has always been remarkably inventive, and ‘CAPRISONGS’ is no different. We rarely get Barnett’s vocals straight - they’re blended and warped through autotune, synths and echoes - but the experience is all the better for it. Much of the album has been produced by ‘space-age exotica’ beat-maker El Guincho and it shows. On ‘pamplemousse’ and ‘lightbeamers’ Barnett’s angelic vocals are given their moment before we’re taken down a rabbit-hole as they morph into something more glitchy and robotic.
Historically, these are the noises Twigs already deals in, and very well too. What’s new is that she’s traded in some of (if not all) of her trademark melancholy for songs that you can dance to, a sentiment best seen on ‘papi bones’. Featuring Shygirl, the song is a heavily dancehall-influenced ode to ‘girls that can dance’. Elsewhere, ‘darjeeling’ (featuring Jorja Smith and Unknown T) borrows it’s chorus from Olive’s legendary 90s dance track ‘You’re Not Alone’ to brilliant, head-bobbing effect.
Previous albums have been decidedly conceptual and high-art, but ‘CAPRISONGS’ breaks down some of the barriers between the Artist and audience. These songs could only belong to Twigs, but there’s a new accessibility here. ‘track girl interlude’ hears her and friends discussing their taste in men while lead single ‘tears in the club’ enlists The Weeknd to walk the well-trodden pop-star path of crying on a night out. In other settings, this inclination towards relatability might seem contrived from someone whose previous release was a concept album inspired by Mary Magdalene. Luckily, Twigs hasn’t overplayed it and the music preserves her refined aura in spades. Perhaps ‘CAPRISONGS’ approachable nature is simply a by-product of the fact that its creator’s romantic relationships have increasingly played out in public and been used as headlines when they caused her pain.
Given her established credibility, one has to assume Twigs had her pick of the bunch where features were concerned, and she has used this power tactfully. Highlights include the Afrobeats-infused ‘jealousy’ with the genre’s prodigy Rema, which berates a lover for being paranoid, yearning for peace instead. Elsewhere Coventry’s Pa Salieu lights up ‘honda’ as he trades bars with Barnett over a moody beat and a repeated choral sample.
‘CAPRISONGS’ is a captivating album that sees FKA Twigs dip her toes into the mainstream while retaining much of the other-worldly uniqueness that made her a fan and critic favourite when she released her debut in 2014. Twigs credits the album with allowing her to ‘fall back in love with music, danger, trying new things, sex, love, raves’. In this list she has provided a fantastic summary of the feelings in ‘CAPRISONGS’, a rewarding and captivating album that certainly deserves your time.