FKA Twigs at Aviva Studios

One of the must-see gigs of the year comes as GRAMMY-nominated, multidisciplinary artist FKA twigs performs at Aviva Studios in celebration of her third studio album, Eusexua.

There aren’t many artists like FKA Twigs. Not only is she unreasonably talented across various disciplines, but she’s daring in a way that feels rare these days. The professional dancer turned alien-pop phenomenon broke out with her debut album, LP1, in 2014. With it, she took every risk going, from the deconstructed productions defined by crystalline glitches and a whole host of unlikely references, to the vocal acrobatics which saw her spectral voice flit between operatic and unprocessed to whisper-pitched and digitally metamorphosed.

The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize before Magdalene (2019) cemented her status as a once-in-a-generation talent, with Twigs’ songwriting becoming ever more innovative, and her operatic vocals being stretched to new heights – all while self-directing wildly conceptual videos and ravenously hoovering up dance disciplines. This appetite for boundless artistic expression became part of her shows – better described as theatrical multimedia experiences, blurring the line between classicism and the avant-garde.

Following the 2022 mixtape CAPRISONGS, which showcased a more collaborative, fun, and upbeat side to Twigs, anticipation was high for studio album number three, Eusexua, which dropped on 24 January. Cue the obvious question. What is ‘Eusexua’? According to Twigs, it’s “a state of being. A feeling of momentary transcendence often evoked by art, music, sex, and unity. Eusexua can be followed by a state of bliss and feelings of limitless possibility.”

These kinds of moments inspired the album, with Twigs specifically mentioning her experience of starring in horror film The Crow (oh yes, she’s a celebrated actor, too) and – more importantly – late nights spent in Prague’s underground techno scene. Like Charli XCX’s brat, Eusexua is an avant-pop album that taps into the potential of hedonism to be personally liberating, even spiritual. Co-produced by Eartheater and long-term collaborator Koreless, Eusexua sees Twigs turns towards the dancefloor not in that add-more-kick-drums way, but in the sense that experimentalism can also be ecstatic.

This creative gear shift is laid bare in the title track, whose cinematic opening gives way to a pummelling techno floor filler. But the intricacies that define Twigs’ music are all still there, from the balletic vocals to the extraterrestrial electronics that cushion them. If tracks like ‘Perfect Stranger’ sound a bit more mainstream than we’re used to, they’re balanced by the likes of ‘Drums of Death’ , in which things get a lot more experimental. This particular track is deconstructed club at its finest – manic, glitchy, and heavy as hell. The fact it was released as a single is on the one hand kind of funny, and on the other a testament to an artist whose success comes from refusing to abide by the rules.

It’s exciting to see Twigs explore a different direction with Eusexua, and have no doubt, the live shows surrounding it will have been as long in the making as the record itself. With only a handful of UK dates on the cards, we’re very happy that one is at Aviva Studios, whose gargantuan stage imposes no limits on what Twigs and her seemingly limitless creativity have concocted for it.