FKA Twigs Review: A Three Act Fever Dream at a Career Pinnacle

Magazine, London

In support of her acclaimed third LP, Eusexua, Twigs steps fully into her power: sensual, cinematic, and utterly singular amidst a hyper-sexualised, celebratory cacophony.

It’s been over a decade since FKA Twigs first emerged from the shadows of music video backdrops and backup dancer credits, conspiring with glitch-pop elements that would soon unfurl into one of Britain’s most fearless, genre-subverting bodies of work.

Beyond the release of a spellbinding release, Magazine's cavernous new fixture offers an eerie, industrial minimalism which feels purpose-built for the artist’s darkly ecstatic vision. One of two sold-out nights, the show plays out in three deliberate movements, each dialling deeper into the trance of Eusexua’s world; a “genre-bending” swirl of electronic, R&B, trip hop, hyperpop, and something unique to the artist on display.

Act I: The Practice opens with 'Thousand Eyes' and 'Mary Magdalene', early staples that feel like whispered invocations. Swathed in gauze-like lighting, she glides through 'Figure 8' and 'Weak Spot', before reaching into new material with 'Room of Fools'; a hypnotic track which twitches with seductive intent, akin to Björk's unyielding prowess. 'Hours' folds in gracefully, but it’s 'Striptease' that lands hardest. One of her strongest singles to date, it’s a tease in both form and delivery, its climactic highs feeling all too brief. The audience, already awash in longing, barely wreaking time to fully exhale.

By Act II: State of Being, the show’s temperature continues to rise incrementally. Suspended in a hammock affixed to a metal cube frame centre-stage, she performs Eusexua, limbs outstretched, dancers orbiting like starry-eyed satellites. 'Drums of Death' and 'Keep It, Hold It' follow, rave-esque tempo but rooted in emotional resonance bespoke to her reputed artistry. Once more, comparisons to 90's-era Björk aren’t off the mark, both artists treading the line between intimacy and explosion.

'Sticky' and 'Perfect Stranger' pull the performance into a fever pitch; she moves among her dancers with a precision that borders on telepathic. By the time she hits her rendition of Madonna's 'Vogue', there’s a sense she’s not just paying homage, but reclaiming the spotlight for a new kind of avant-garde femininity. The nods to 90's trip-hop and post-pandemic longing are unmistakable.

Act III: The Pinnacle is where she reaches peak transcendence. 'Home With You' is followed by a string of fan favourites; 'Water Me', 'Two Weeks', 'Numbers', each landing with operatic drama with devastating consequences. The closing track of the main set, '24hr Dog', is a standout: yearning, vulnerable, and startlingly current. A diaristic confession cloaked in haunting production, it signals Twigs’ full evolution into her Eusexua persona.

'Cellophane' enacts tonight's encore: alone at the piano, spotlit and still, she brings the room to silence. Every note is utter heartbreak; every breath, a wound reopened. It’s devastatingly befitting.

FKA twigs’ show this evening deemed ritualistic. A meticulously choreographed, erotically-charged, genre-agnostic plunge into her latest artistic tenure. Backed by a troupe of dancers who gave physical form to every nuance of her sound, she crafted a world that was at once alien and intimate.

If Eusexua marks a new high in her discography, this tour is its live counterpart: bold, brilliant, and steeped in sweat. FKA twigs is not just at the pinnacle of her career; she’s carving out a new one entirely.

9/10

FKA Twigs' album, Eusexua, is out now via Young and can be found below.

Photo is courtesy of Richard Saker whose work can be found here.