Album Review: Exploring the Many Dimensions of FKA twigs in 'CAPRISONGS'

FKA twigs’ road to self-discovery is at once spiritual, fun, and painful; it is a journey that requires a soundtrack as genre-bending and honest as CAPRISONGS.

Written by Katie Karp

Photo courtesy of NO MORE Foundation

Over the past decade, Tahlia Debrett Barnett has created a highly complex and diverse discography under the stage name FKA twigs, developing musical proficiency in a spectrum of genres. With Jamaican and Spanish roots, an upbringing in the English countryside, a fine arts degree, and a former career as a “video girl,” Barnett blends her unique array of influences into her multidimensional work. In her most recent record, CAPRISONGS, the 34-year-old further proves her ability to create highly technical yet emotionally vulnerable music with newfound optimism.

Even at a first glance, it appears that twigs has developed a more genuine and proud self-image. In the album cover of LP1, we see the South Londoner’s doe-eyed gaze and gapped teeth on her young, bot-like visage painted in red. With its futuristic sounds and lyrical focus on others’ perceptions of her, the music of twigs’ 2014 LP is reflective of the experimental pop image that covers it. Five years later, twigs returned distorted and dull-eyed on the cover of MAGDALENE, in which she unveils emotional vulnerability, self-criticism, and anxiety. Less than two years after that, the artist showcases a new version of herself, this time not as a plastic, doll-like figure nor as an indistinguishable sculpture. On the cover of CAPRISONGS, we see the real twigs. With sparkly, studded hoops, a gold septum ring, a set of long, artful nails that peel down her lined and glossy lower lip to reveal the word GOAT — greatest of all time — on her bottom incisor teeth, twigs appears just as confident, decadent, and cool on the album cover as she does with the music inside.

Image courtesy of Atlantic Records

Looking into Barnett’s life, it hasn’t always been easy. In 2020, the musician filed a lawsuit accusing her former boyfriend, actor Shia LaBeouf, of sexual assult, battery, and infliction of emotional distress. She used her powerful voice to not only secure her own justice but also raise awareness towards the issue of domestic violence, making it clear to other survivors that they are not alone. Despite the violence she faced and pain she endured, it is difficult to see twigs as a victim. Whether it be fronting a campaign against domestic and sexual violence or expressing herself unapologetically in CAPRISONGS, FKA twigs’ recent presence in the limelight reveals how she has channeled her pain into becoming stronger, louder, and more creative.

CAPRISONGS opens with a spoken introduction from twigs: “Hey, I made you a mixtape / Because when I feel you, I feel me.” Identifying her work as a mixtape welcomes the listener into a looser, more casual experience than one would expect from an album. As the opening track, “ride the dragon” also demonstrates how twigs looks at an unspecified romance to reflect upon herself and understand what pleasures her, a sign of growth since her pattern of dwelling on how she could have been a better lover in MAGDALENE. Twigs introduces the album by speaking and playing with vocal effects that segue to sensual, R&B vocals complemented by a soft, watery beat. The song’s music video is casual and frighteningly cool, capturing the singer with a group of girls performing a hip-hop dance and parading around the London streets with a grungy and artful film camera. FKA twigs continues to own her home city in the next song, “honda,” where she and British rapper Pa Salieu join forces and plan out smoking on the M way. Blending her technical and often angelic sounds with Pa Salieu’s grimey, high-energy rapping, “honda” is still free-flowing and polished, just as is the album collectively.

The Brit-rap legend is but one of the many artists of color twigs collaborates with. Between Daniel Caesar’s smooth, raw vocals in “careless,” Rema’s unmatched, tropical beats in “jealousy,” and Dystopia’s taste of psychedelia in “which way,” twigs works with a handful of musicians, each offering a unique flavor to CAPRISONGS. With the help of English electronic artist Shygirl, twigs creates club track “papi bones.” The two women develop a song with an upbeat, empowering energy whose fast tempo and sexual attitude feel like it should be played at a party, a setting where her previous idiosyncratic tunes would not blend. On her own, she takes a swing at hyperpop with “pamplemousse.” The exaggerated, avant-gardeness of the genre has always been in twigs’ realm, but only now that she has loosened up and allowed herself to have fun, can she match the high frequencies of hyperpop.

Beyond expanding her musical range through her instrumental experimentation, the singer uses CAPRISONGS as a means of growth and self-reflection. In “tears in the club,” twigs and collaborator The Weeknd speak of anxiety towards their love over a catchy, dancey beat. Over a distinctive, synthy R&B sound, twigs’ light, synthesized voice discusses drowning her sadness over a lover with the high-energy music of a nightclub. “Wanna dance you out of my, gotta dance you out of my / Hips, my thighs, my wrongs, my rights, yeah / Listen to the rhythm and make no compromise / 'Cause you hurt me.” Partying and socializing as a means of coping is a theme entirely new to twigs’ previously introspective music. As indicated by her reference to her sun sign, Capricorn, in the album’s title, Barnett is unashamed of her spiritual search for her sense of self and in touch with her emotions. The central focus of “oh my love” is unrequited love, but rather than begging for the man she wants or lamenting how she could have approached him differently, twigs looks at the situation with clear eyes and maintains a confident attitude that she hopes to share with her listeners: “Love yourself, know your worth / And f-ck crying over these stupid boys that don’t even recognize the worth in themselves.”

Whether it be expanding her sound, collaborating with diverse artists, or demonstrating pride and self-respect, CAPRISONGS represents FKA twigs’ exploratory path to self-appreciation for her many talents and true strength. Barnett has always demonstrated her commitment to improving her dancing and musical skills and bettering herself in a relationship. Her artful, eclectic album is filled with optimism and pride, something especially moving given her current fight against sexual assault. Twigs has admired the concept of the divine feminine in her past work, and CAPRISONGS clearly shows that she has grown into the strong, divine woman she has strived to be.