FKA Twigs is and has been that girl to many within her dedicated fan base since she released her debut studio album LP1 in 2014. With her dramatic twriled baby hairs, long black braids, and tiny gold nose piercing, FKA Twigs easily became a Tumblr darling with photos of her to be found on every fashion and music blog imaginable. One could not log onto the platform without seeing the tracks “Two Weeks” and “Video Girl” at least once on their timeline. FKA Twigs soon became known for her brooding electronic sound and striking falsetto voice as she sang about love, lust, and insecurity over avant-garde distorted instrumentals. The music of FKA Twigs is undeniably ethereal. It has the ability to capture the listener’s ear as well as their heart simultaneously and with ease. This is why Twigs’ fan base stuck by her, even during her four-year-long hiatus from music.

In 2019, fans' need for the otherworldly sounds of FKA Twigs was satisfied with the release of her second studio album Magdalene. A deeply emotional allegory of the breakdown of her own relationship through the story of biblical figure Mary Magdalene, the project was generally well-received. Some saw Magdalene as a dreary diversion from her eclectic mid-2010’s sound, while others saw it as the maturation of both her music and her storytelling ability as an artist. Regardless, the question on every FKA Twigs listener’s mind after Magdalene was this: Will Twigs go on another hiatus? When is the next time we’ll hear from her? Luckily, fans did not have to wait as long as before for new music. On January 14th, FKA Twigs released her second mixtape (the first being M3LL155X in 2015) entitled Caprisongs. In an Instagram post describing the project in the lead-up to its release, Twigs describes Caprisongs as “...my journey back to myself through my amazing collaborators and friends.” The title, as well as the flow and themes of the project, are inspired by astrology. She is a Capricorn Sun and plays on the closeness of the words “sun” and “song” to create Caprisongs.

Although the sound of the album is much more grounded than her previous works, Caprisongs can be argued to be her most eclectic piece of work to date. With instrumentals ranging from commercial pop to reggaeton to electronic ballad, Caprisongs truly explores the vastness of FKA Twigs’ self. The project gives us a glimpse into the unpredictable nature of the album with the intro track “ride the dragon.” The track opens with a soft slow piano melody as FKA Twigs whispers to the listener, “Hey, I made you a mixtape.” Then, a deep distorted voice comes into the fray. Throughout the intro to the track, the regular and distorted voices play off of each other, each expressing forms of desire. Carried by Twigs’ voice as she sings the lyric, “So if you…” the beat drops, the rhythm picks up, the melody becomes plucky, and the line finishes with “Really wanna kiss me, kiss me (Do it quickly).” After the chorus, Twigs goes into a verse where she, in her regular voice, sings the nearly indistinguishable lyrics the distorted voice sang in the intro. She says, “You wanna get a bit of my mystique? / Ooh Play ooh-là-là, très chic (Get you a ticket)/ Get lonely in a studio week.” This lyric aligns with the three aspects of her astrology that she explores throughout the project. Her Capricorn sun, as she described it, tells her to “...just go to the studio and create.” Her Sagittarius moon is “the enigmatic [or “mystique”] temptress craving the club,” and her Pisces venus “...hot mess disastrous heart falling in love all over again.”

As the album progresses, certain songs correlate with one of the three facets of her astrology. The fifth track on the album entitled “oh my love” speaks to her Pisces venus. The planet Venus describes how one interacts with love. The sign of Pisces is known for being emotional, aloof, and deeply introspective. In “oh my love” Twigs about her desire for her lover to love her the way she loves him. The track opens and closes with spoken word segments from two different women. The first woman describes how she had a relationship with a man but he thinks they are just “hanging out.” On a smooth classic R&B style track, FKA Twigs sings and raps about the games her lover is playing and how they affect her. In the end, another woman speaks on the importance of self-love. She urges Twigs to “see in herself what she sees in her.” As both a Pisces sun and a Pisces venus, these sentiments on love, in addition to the old school style of the track, resonated with my sensibilities.

Outside of the astrological aspects of the Caprisongs, the EP also has a variety of genres jam-packed within it. “meta angels” is a ballad in the purest sense of the word, with Twigs’ voice immediately capturing the ear with a haunting melody of “oohhs” before she launches into a moving account of her insecurities. It is an incredibly vulnerable track that also weaves in the electronic aspects of her music she is known for, alla M3LL155X era. On the other end of the spectrum, Twigs experiments with dancehall on the track “papi bones” featuring Shygirl. The EP was recorded in several cities and countries around the world, including Jamaica. This Caribbean sound also finds itself elsewhere on the album such as on “honda” featuring Pa Salieu and “jealousy” featuring Rema. Lastly, FKA Twigs with a more commercial sound on the tracks “tears in the club” featuring The Weekend, and “darjeeling” featuring Jorja Smith and Unknown T. “Tears in the club” is Twigs’ foray into radio pop/R&B and “darjeeling” is like if grime was made angelic. Both are successful dips into different genres and are both refreshing and satisfying for longtime FKA Twigs fans.

Caprisongs overall is another great album from FKA Twigs. Although some tracks in the last third of the project leave much more to be desired (Not even FKA Twigs could uncancel Daniel Caesar), the experimental singer’s second EP and 4th studio release is just the start to 2022 that many of us needed. Just as I had when I was fourteen years old, I’ll be eagerly watching to see what else FKA Twigs may have in store in the near future. Until then, I will be listening to Caprisongs as a constant reminder to have fun, love deeply, reflect, and strive towards growth as opposed to stagnancy.

Favorite Tracks:

jealousy (Feat. Rema)

oh my love

ride the dragon

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