The Review:

Tahliah Barnett was once a background dancer for many musicians, most notably for Australian pop singer Jessie J. She was always approached by fans on the street; not for her music, as she hoped, but for her various appearances in music videos as a dancer. Politely, she tells them that it isn’t her, even though she knows the truth. She yearned for something more. The next time she were approached by fans, they’d recognize her for dancing to her own voice instead of someone else’s. That she’d make sure of.

The year is now 2014. After signing to British indie music label Young Turks, putting out two EPs, and a name change, FKA twigs is about to release her debut album, titled LP1. It is autobiographical in its lyrics, it is intense in its music, it is beautiful, it is poignant, and the slew of musical collaborators lends itself to the production all over the record. Arca, Sampha, Clams Casino, Devonté Hynes of Blood Orange, Paul Epworth, their touches can be heard on the songs that they worked on. This year was monumental for Twigs. Fans, myself included, wanted more. In a year’s time, we got more in the form of an EP called M3LL155X. An equally enjoyable project, with great singles in “Figure 8” and “Glass & Patron”, but its brevity was its only real drawback. Luckily, we were given a loose single a few months after the EP’s release, called “Good to You”. “I’ve got a right to hurt inside/So will you hold me while I cry?” She never did. Thus began a period of relative radio silence; this time for three years. It was then that she removed fibroid tumors from her uterus, which she described as “living with a fruit bowl of pain every day.” The only featured appearance she made (and to date) was on A$AP Rocky’s TE$TING track “Fukk Sleep”, but Twigs was only on a small section at the tail end of the song.

Then, on April 24th of this year, she released the music video and audio for “cellophane”. The lead single for an upcoming album was a taste of things to come— and come they did. This past Friday, November 8th, her second album arrived. At long last. MAGDALENE. How do I feel about this album? What are my thoughts? After a few days of marinating, what are my conclusions?

It may not be the catchy left-field pop record LP1 is, but MAGDALENE is her best album yet. It’s also her most adventurous album yet. I had no doubts FKA Twigs would deliver one of the year’s best albums at any point of any year, but I didn’t think it would be of this proportion. Almost every aspect of this album is flawless. Almost. Production, songwriting, lyrical motifs, overall theme, vocal performances; it’s, for the most part, stellar. Words become hard to describe the music because the music speaks volumes more than I probably could, but, goddammit, I’m going to try.

A majority of the production is handled by twigs and Chilean-American producer Nicolas Jaar. Other producers on the record include Cashmere Cat, Skrillex, Kenny Beats, Jack Antonoff, Sounwave, and Hudson Mohawke. What the listener hears on MAGDELENE is a very intimate and layered work, but it’s these layers that made Twigs and her music so fascinating to listen to since day one. So intimate, it feels as if she’s whispering in your ear, like on “cellophane” and “holy terrain”. Though, the one thing the production focuses on the most is her voice. No other aspect of this album is utilized more. For example, on the opener, “a thousand eyes”, her voice gives the track extra texture that the instrumental cannot do on its own. The producer carefully constructs the atmosphere, but just as they use their talent on the boards to create the vibe, Twigs’ powerful voice is trained in the art of restraint and subtlety. Her fragile falsetto cries carry over from one measure to the next. They act as building blocks where every song a new fixture. Without her voice, the producer has little to work with, but without any production to back her, Twigs’ voice has little to interact with. Certain passages of songs break up bits of her voice and piece them back together in more ways than one, like a crossword puzzle that has many different answers for the same word. There are little subtleties sprinkled throughout the instrumentals that perk up your ears. For example, the plucked strings in the background of the chorus on “holy terrain” or the warping bass notes on the outro of “mirrored heart” or the way the drums take the back seat during the verses of “sad day” before growing louder and louder.

The songwriting on this album is Twigs at top form. Titling the album after the Biblical Mary Magdalene (of which a song is titled after as well), there is a running theme of strong women in control of their emotions and their narrative. In popular culture, Magdalene is often called a whore. It’s easier to imagine her that way because she was presented as a prostitute via a projection from a story written by men. Thus, Twigs here on MAGDALENE is in complete control of her emotions and puts them on display as she sees fit.

On “sad day”, she describes taking a chance on love even if it means possibly getting hurt again. This is best seen through Verses 2 & 3. She lets her feelings get ahead of herself, but perhaps that is what taking a chance is all about…

Verse 2
“Take a chance on all the things you can’t see
Make a wish on all that lives within thee
If you’re foolishly in love with me
It’s a fine day for sure.”

Verse 3
“I can imagine a world when my arms are embraced around you
I lie naked and pure with intentions to cleanse you and take you
The city howls with a cry to seduce you and claim you
So it’s time
And it’s a sad day for sure” (“sad day”)

On “mary magdalene”, she describes what women are worth. How they remain the center of men’s desire, despite how many times men ignore them and try to phase them out of history.

“I’m fever for the fire
True as Mary Magdalene
Creature of desire
Come just a little bit closer to me
Step just a little bit closer to me
I can lift you higher” (“mary magdalene”)

She chronicles this using the lyrical motif, “A woman’s…”, in the verses. In order to survive the world’s obstacles, women must look out for each other and know themselves and their capabilities. History has shown men have treated women as their own property and crave a woman’s “sacred geometry”, sometimes with nefarious intentions:

“A woman’s work
A woman’s prerogative
A woman’s time to embrace
She must put herself first
A woman’s touch” (“mary magdalene”)

On “mirrored heart”, she describes an amplified loneliness she feels from seeing people who possess “mirrored hearts”, which is when two lovers see a reflection of themselves in each other’s hearts. It is because she doesn’t have someone that she feels so lonely, even after going through her painful surgery. While such loneliness can inspire a bit of jealousy, as seen through the motif of “the gain” in both verses, loneliness is what’s left after the jealousy fades:

“It’s all for the gain
It’s all for the lovers tryna take the breath away
It’s all for the gain
It’s all for the lovers tryna chase the rush again”

“But I’m never gonna give up
Though I’m probably gonna think about you all the time
And for the lovers who found a mirrored heart
They just remind me I’m without you” (“mirrored heart”)

One of my favorite tracks on the album, “fallen alien”, throughout the swooping synths and vocal dissonance, is about reaching your breaking point with someone you’ve fallen out of love with. Feeling foreign to the person sleeping next to you. The lies, the deceit, and deciding you’ve had it.

“In the blazing sun I saw you
In the shadows hiding from yourself
When the lights are on I know you
See you’re grey from all the lies you tell” (“fallen alien”)

FKA twigs is one of the most powerful voices in the independent music scene. MAGDALENE sees her attempt to expand upon her boundaries, but even then, it feels like a cake walk for her. Her extensive vocal range echoes long after the album ends. Case in point on the album’s beautiful closer, “cellophane”, which sees her swerve rather seamless between low and high vocal registers. A lot of the performances on this album are reminiscent of Björk and Kate Bush. Specifically, the way Twigs’ falsetto moves with the instrumental during the verses on “fallen alien” calls back to Björk’s Vespertine opener “Hidden Place” around the 2:20 mark. Even the build up vaguely reminds me of other tracks off of Vespertine like “Pagan Poetry” and “It’s Not Up To You”. On “sad day” and “mary magdelene”, connections to Kate Bush can be made through the way she uses vibratto and the chord progressions, especially on “sad day”. Side Note: the first line of “mary magdelene” (“A woman’s work…”) can be seen as a nod to Bush’s song “The Woman’s Work” off of her 1989 album, The Sensual World.

If there are flaws to be found in MAGDALENE, they would be found in its first leg. “home without you”, while adventurous in the way Twigs’ voice is transmogrified, the last leg of the track can feel claustrophobic and cacophonous. It gets a little chaotic as it reaches the end, but Twigs handles it by interacting with the instrumental and belting out. At its best, she soars with the strings. At its worst, it sounds like she’s trying to reach the listener through of all the strings. It really is impressive, but not a track I would visit outside of whole album listens. I also enjoy “holy terrain” quite a bit. I don’t understand the flack the single has gotten. The songwriting from twigs on this track can get pretty sexy, with twigs singing, “I am blue when the moon hits my skin right/Hot pink when you open up my sweet thighs” It’s a fun track and the Future verse is great. I love Sad Future too, twigs. The way he manipulates the auto-tune and bares his emotions. Future detractors decry his lyrics, sure, but what has sold it has always been the way Future delivers his raps. This particular verse reminds me of his Honest days.
The instrumental is more ornate than some critics and fans claim; whatnot with its strings and subdued drums. I will also say that the song does feel out of place within the wider scope of the record. On top of that, the way Future sings “I cry” in the background of the beat is a bit humorous. Sometimes it’s a little hard to make out. If you’re not intently listening, it sounds like unintelligible auto-tune. Maybe not as an album cut, but “holy terrain” is a fun sultry little song that would have served better as a loose track. T

          MAGDALENE is one of the best albums of the year. I fell in love with it. It’s an intense listen. It’s an intimate listen. It’s a very personal and empowering album for Twigs in terms of lyrical content. It’s overall theme of empowering women is ever-present; exposing her own realizations as examples to build herself (and hopefully, others) up. She also builds on a lot of the production with her powerful voice. So much so, it’s the main attraction here. How far can it go and what lengths can it reach? It feels limitless, but Twigs spends enough time trying to show you how human she is despite her inhuman talents.

9/10

You can listen to MAGDALENE on Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL.

The Pairing:

Women-owned businesses should be more common. Hell, empowering albums like MAGDALENE should be more common. It’s empowering to see more women owning businesses. There are a lot of men in Miami’s food scene, and as talented as they are, I don’t think there’s enough of a spotlight on the talented women that are also a part of it. Today, I’m going to put a spotlight on one of the most talented women in Miami cuisine: Eileen Andrade, the chef owner of FINKA Table and Tap. She is the granddaughter of Amelia and Raul Garcia, founders of famous Cuban restaurant Islas Canarias. Within the last five years, she has created an empire that pays homage to her grandparents in every dish; even naming her second restaurant after grandmother, Amelia’s 1931. If you live in Miami and haven’t gone to FINKA, something has to change. If you haven’t been to Islas Canarias, you either live far from them or you’re not Cuban. A Miami Cuban has already been to Islas Canarias, Versailles, and any La Carreta location within 10 years of life on Earth. No, I’m not being facetious, these are non-negotiable facts.

Enough about Islas, the dish I’m pairing with FKA twigs’ MAGDALENE is the Vaca Frita Japchae from FINKA Table and Tap. Andrade is a big fan of Asian cuisine, with her favorite place to travel to being South Korea. Thus, FINKA’s menu blends Cuban, Korean, and Peruvian cuisines together. Japchae, translating to “mixed vegetables”, is a Korean dish made with cellophane/glass noodles, soy sauce, and, of course, mixed vegetables. Sometimes it’s accompanied with a meat, but that’s where the Cuban part of this dish comes in. Vaca Frita is a Cuban pan-fried ripped beef dish that’s very often served with rice and beans. At FINKA, the serving of both beef and noodles is generous. Sometimes you’ll get more meat than noodles and vice versa. What you will always get, however, is the delicious flavor of the meat and the noodles coming together. The beef is marinated with lime, garlic, and salt, but it’s never cooked with too much of any one ingredient and the flavor of the beef always gets a space to shine. The acidity of the vaca frita, the textures of the meat and the cellophane noodles, the vegetables soaking in all the juices, it’s all done so well. Kudos to Eileen Andrade for founding one of Miami’s most unique culinary experiences and to FINKA. Wrap up all your feelings in cellophane noodles from that delicious Vaca Frita Japchae.