FKA twigs – EUSEXUA Afterglow
Hedonistic and messy, EUSEXUA Afterglow is somehow both more lithe and more maximalist than its Mercury-nominated predecessor
Less than a year after its Mercury Prize-nominated predecessor, FKA twigs refuses to let the club lights come up on EUSEXUA Afterglow. Initially conceived as a deluxe edition to EUSEXUA, ...Afterglow instead plunges us deeper into the club’s subconscious on this strobe-bleached record; a palpable evocation of fog machine air and ultraviolet lights.
Where EUSEXUA toyed with contrasting tempo, ...Afterglow feels happier to embrace the recession pop tradition: Love Crimes simultaneously embodies the imposing noughties thump of Britney’s Work Bitch and the cathedralic 90s synths of Adamski’s Killer. Sushi turns Craig David’s 7 Days into something sticky and nocturnal before descending into four-on-the-floor delirium.
FKA twigs isn’t citing her references so much here as on EUSEXUA, however. Afterglow plays more like a surrender to hedonism, a late-night playlist by and for twigs herself. Slushy and Piece of Mine summon the fractured sensuality of LP1, offering rare respite from the kinetic cry-while-you're-dancing euphoria of Wild and Alone and Predictable Girl. At its best, the album merges the two poles: Lost All My Friends captures the dazed slide toward daylight, the dull techno thud creeping back in as you wonder who you’re really going home with.
Where EUSEXUA is immaculate in its design, EUSEXUA Afterglow is the glorious unravelling. It’s hedonistic and messy, somehow both more lithe and more maximalist than its predecessor.
Listen to: Love Crimes, Sushi, Lost All My Friends