The British pop eccentric comes to her third album with a thrilling sense of mystery
A sure sign that a pop star is well in to their imperial phase is their willingness to pluck entirely made-up words from the ether. Nobody needed Phil Collins to invent the term “Sussudio” in 1984, but he did anyway, and look how much better off civilisation is as a result. Similar lexicographical sorcery is at play on the third album proper from slipstream-dwelling pop eccentric FKA Twigs – a gorgeously uncanny affair that arrives bearing the completely self-created title of Eusexua.
What is “Eusexua”, and why does it sound like an alien planet from a 1970s porn parody of Star Trek? In one of the handfuls of interviews given in the lead-up to the record’s release, Twigs – aka Cheltenham-born singer and producer Tahliah Barnett – defined it as “the sensation of being so euphoric” that a person could “transcend the human form”.
Shape-shifting euphoria is a new frequency for Twigs. Her last official album, 2019’s Magdalene, was a flensing act of emotional purging recorded after her break-up from Batman actor Robert Pattinson. The vibe was Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together” spliced with a body horror B-movie soundtrack. It was terrifyingly confessional – the concept of “too much information” catalysed into trippy, bulldozing pop.
That aura of defiant heartache was emphatically exorcised with her breezy, non-canonical 2022 mixtape, Caprisongs, where Twigs reengaged with her formative love of garage, dubstep and hip hop. Three years on, the message of the leftfield Eusexua is that it is, once again, time for something different. Here is a deliciously wonky dance project that draws on everything from 1990s house music to avant-garde electronica before ending with an onslaught of theatrical elation worthy of Wicked.
Eusexua pushes the envelope in its musical textures – the grooves have an anxious, twitchy energy – while also being easy on the ear. The not-so-secret ingredient is the singer’s wonderfully ethereal voice: behold the techno Enya, giving it socks. One smart decision is to reunite with her long-time collaborator Koreless, a Welsh producer who combines killer beats with a horror movie aesthetic.
He conjures the spooky feels with aplomb on Eusexua, which opens in strident fashion with a title track that pays tribute to the big house bangers of the 1990s. “Do you feel alone / You’re not alone,” exclaims Twigs on the chorus. It’s the sort of floaty, hands-in-the-air refrain that recalls vintage anthems such as Olive’s “You’re Not Alone” and Opus Three’s “It’s a Fine Day”, which Twigs covered at a London Fashion Week event in 2023.
Old school fun gives way to something wispier on “Girl Feels Good”, where Twigs comes on like a trip-hop Kate Bush, her unearthly delivery lassoed to a stuttering tempo. That air of mystery is replaced by sharp tang of desire on “Perfect Stranger”, a dreamlike celebration of a casual hook-up fuelled by a rhythm once removed from Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. The biggest surprise comes at the end via the melodramatic outpourings of “Wanderlust”. Rising from a bared-boned beginning, it culminates in a Broadway-style song and dance crescendo, a heartfelt Twigs selling the potentially hokey observation: “You’ve one life to live / Do it freely”.
FKA Twigs doesn’t seem to have much interest in conventional musical stardom. She rarely performs live – the 2025 Eusexua tour clocks in at a mere 10 dates. Her social media presence is negligible, as are her public appearances. She generally only surfaces at fashion events – most recently at a “pop-up” event celebrating her partnership with an athletics brand.
That elusive quality may be her most compelling attribute as an artist. At a time when pop stars are tripping over one another pretending to be our relatable best friends, FKA Twigs is lost in the mists of her own myth-making. Her refusal to be an open book is the distinguishing feature of Eusexua, an ever-shifting maze of a record that the curious listener will want to get lost in over and over. The title may be a pretentious fabrication but the sense of wonder and discovery are thrillingly real.
Stream: “Eusexua”, “Girl Feels Good”, “Wanderlust”
