It might surprise FKA Twigs fans to know that ‘Eusexua’ – the title track from her third studio album – is not, technically, the pinnacle of human experience. When Twigs first announced the record back in September, she defined its title as a “practise”, a “state of being”, and that lofty descriptor. On Friday night in the steely cavern of London’s Magazine, she arranges her show in exactly this order, with three acts under these banners. But curiously, rather than taking its place in the final chapter, the title track appears just a few songs in, right at the start of Act II.
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So what is the meaning of ‘Eusexua’? Twigs’ show stretches that definition for an all-encompassing, two-hour showcase of her singular artistry that’s reigned supreme for more than a decade. As the show’s crescendo makes clear, it’s way more than just a euphoric rave tribute.
Twigs won’t hand you the ‘Eusexua’ experience on a chrome platter. She makes you wait for it; much of the first act consists of songs from her older albums. But as soon as the star performs ‘Striptease’, she peels off her dress and unleashes her soaring operatic vocals: a siren call beckoning chaos. A mysterious box behind her has its black cloth lifted; a metal cubic structure is revealed, setting the stage for the shenanigans about to proceed.
Chains, shibari ropes, whips: we are smack bang in the world of ‘Eusexua’ now, as Twigs dangles from the hanging chains like aerial silks singing the title track and slathers the ropes across her body for the delicate intro to ‘Sticky’. Admittedly, they do hang limply from the box for most of the act and feel slightly underutilised.
But Twigs expands the world of ‘Eusexua’ beyond a simple pain-and-pleasure dichotomy; the trip hop-inflected ‘Girl Feels Good’ highlights the potential of feminine power against a literal backdrop of toxic masculinity and violence. Meanwhile, a whole camera crew is shoved in Twigs’ face for a spoken interlude between her and a dismissive (and fictional) journalist, whose dialogue evolves into the lyrics for ‘Keep It, Hold It’: “And at best, I live alone in disarray / I read a million people gotta feel this way”.
Tonight is also an exhibition of Twigs’ career to date; there’s the Chinese sword dancing she learned during the making of ‘Magdalene’, and she pays brief homage to Madonna by voguing with her dancers to a remix of the seminal track. There’s also the nod to her Kanye West collaboration ‘Ego Death’, which inevitably leads into her North West-featuring ‘Childlike Things’ – a true crowd pleaser.
As we enter the third and final act, Twigs elevates some of her greatest hits for us: ‘Two Weeks’ sees her perform with a giant dragon puppet operated by her entire crew of dancers, and she whips out her mesmerising pole dancing for the ridiculously submissive ‘24hr Dog’. But the real key to the meaning of ‘Eusexua’ is, in fact, the tender lead single from ‘Magdalene’: ‘Cellophane’.
Dancers hang chains connected to her dress to all four corners of the box and every spotlight is rigged onto her; Twigs has no choice but to bare her soul to the crowd. To end the set with a song that expresses such spiritual suffering with some of the most magnificent vocals is truly brave; every tremble and crack in her voice is deeply felt, and it’s the most connected we feel to her all night. Now that’s ‘Eusexua’.
FKA Twigs played:
‘Thousand Eyes’ / ‘Mary Magdalene’
‘Figure 8’ / ‘Weak Spot’ / ‘Room Of Fools’
‘Hours’
‘Striptease’
‘Eusexua’
‘Perfectly’
‘Drums Of Death’
‘Keep It, Hold It’
‘Sticky’
‘Perfect Stranger’
‘Oh My Love’
‘Honda’ / ‘Papi Bones’
‘Ego Death’ / ‘Childlike Things’
‘Glass And Patron’
‘Vogue’
‘Girl Feels Good’
‘Home With You’
‘Got To Feel Love’
‘Numbers’
‘Water Me’
‘Two Weeks’
‘24hr Dog’
‘Cellophane’