FKA Twigs matures with arresting second album ‘Magdalene’

The second album by British R&B/hip-hop artist FKA Twigs is a more mature and eclectic work than her debut.

British R&B/hip-hop artist FKA Twigs. Picture: Matthew Stone

R&B/HIP-HOP

Magdalene

FKA Twigs

Young Turks

★★★★

Madalene by FKA Twigs.

British artist Tahliah Debrett Barnett – best known as FKA Twigs – began her performing career as a backup dancer. Her first album, 2014’s LP1, offered a sexy symphony of sounds that had roots in the weed-soaked trip-hop of Tricky and Massive Attack, the heartbroken vulnerability of PJ Harvey and the charged allure of Madonna’s 1992 album, Erotica. Magdalene is a more mature and eclectic work that showcases her talents as a producer, songwriter and a modern multimedia artist. Perhaps due to her singular appearance, Twigs is best experienced beyond purely listening to her albums. In the video for first single Cellophane, she was eaten by an insect – both of them dressed in sparkly bikinis – then transformed into an underwater alien nymph. Some might assume Twigs relies on visual arts and provocation to satisfy where her sound doesn’t cut it, but they’d be wrong. Holy Terrain, featuring Future, is a glitchy, fractured hip-hop track that Twigs adorns with her seductive storytelling. It’s a brutally sweet love song for broken-spirited urbanites craving solace, and it epitomises the sound of the whole album. Twigs told The Guardian earlier this year that the success of LP1 – and her relationship with actor Robert Pattinson – made her feel she was living in an “ornate golden birdcage” that became a nightmare as soon as she stepped inside. The chaos of heartbreak, an excessive workload and the pressure of delivering on a follow-up to her beloved debut all feed the intensity and drama on Magdalene. Her music sounds like both a triumphant cry of self-empowerment in being different, ‘other’ and strange. It is also a plea for acceptance, love and validation. Twigs has not been backward in revealing her sexual predelictions and frustrations, and the use of her sexuality as a weapon or a lure. She has equated her feeling of physical strength with sexual desire and confidence, and vice versa. This work explores strength, womanhood and desire. It is a powerful album, and even more so for the revelations of vulnerability and hurt, heartbreak and destructive tendencies.

Cat Woods

Triumph & Disaster, by We Lost The Sea.

POST-METAL

Triumph & Disaster

We Lost The Sea

Bird’s Robe Records

★★★★½

With its fourth album, Sydney sextet We Lost the Sea continues its deep dive into the instrumental post-metal subgenre, where the songs are long, the arrangements complex and the layered guitars flit between intricate clean picking and crushing, distorted riffs. Triumph & Disaster arrives four years after Departure Songs, a moving masterpiece of Australian heavy music composed in the wake of vocalist Chris Torpy’s death. Following up a work of that magnitude is a tough ask, and this time the six musicians have settled on the theme and imagery of a post-apocalyptic Earth affected by irreversible climate change as the bedrock for these seven great tracks. First song Towers and The Last Sun contain some of the finest ideas in the band’s history, while Mother’s Hymn — the only one to feature vocals, courtesy Louise Nutting — ends on a hopeful note.

Andrew McMillen

Woman, by Wallis Bird.

ALT-POP

Woman

Wallis Bird

Mount Silver/Caroline

★★★★

Wallis Bird’s three-minute songs might make an immediate impact, but they’re far removed from the glossy, flossy world of formulaic female pop. By concerning herself with serious subject matter, this Irish songstress walks a similar beat to Sinead O’Connor and Eleanor McEvoy. Her lyrics may be pithy, even mantric, but they express passion and concern. Bird’s fifth album in eight years proceeds with a punchy reflection on the perilous plight of refugees crossing the Mediterranean and concludes in similarly clamorous style — though with softer Celtic whistle-backed interludes — in a song relating to the Irish abortion law amendment. Woman peaks mid-set with an ultra-soulful title track and an even softer piece built on a piano figure that alludes to passing time. In between is an urgent song about avoiding the web of social media, encased in a funky dance-club vibe and ironical title (Salve).

Tony Hillier

Beneath The Eyrie, by Pixies.

ROCK

Beneath the Eyrie

Pixies

Infectious/BMG

★★★½

In the 2010s, Boston’s Pixies released almost as much material as in the band’s heyday, yet these new works haven’t been received nearly as well. Those who may not have derived much from Indie Cindy (2014) or Head Carrier (2016) might do well to hear what’s on offer on Beneath the Eyrie. Album No 7 is the sound of a band recalibrated, refocused and seeking a sense of vitality amid frequent nostalgia trips. There’s an urgency to tracks such as St Nazaire and lead single On Graveyard Hill, driven by David Lovering’s precise drumming and Black Francis’s idiosyncratic yelp. Elsewhere, Catfish Kate proves to be their catchiest single this decade, while Los Surfers Muertos enhances the band’s dark side and the talents of bassist Paz Lenchantin. Although not as spotless as Surfer Rosa, Beneath the Eyrie nevertheless maintains a surprising, endearing consistency.

David James Young

Purple Sky by Lucky Oceans.

COUNTRY

Purple Sky

Lucky Oceans

ABC Music/UMA

★★★★

There’s a curtain call of guest vocalists on Purple Sky, Lucky Oceans’s loving tribute to the songs of US country great Hank Williams, but the voice that cuts through with consistent emotive clarity is that of his signature steel guitar. American-born Oceans has lived more than half his life in Australia, so we can claim him as a national treasure. And Williams was one of the original artists inducted into the US Country Music Hall of Fame, so Oceans is in likely, if louche, company. Paul Kelly lends his distinctive tenor to Alone and Forsaken and I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You); Vika and Linda Bull sweetly harmonise on Why Don’t You Love Me (Like You Used to Do), while Vika Bull takes a star solo turn on Mind Your Own Business. Don Walker similarly owns Just Waitin’ with his deadpan spoken-word delivery, but it’s the gliss and wail of Lucky’s plaintive pedal steel that ultimately steals this show.

Phil Stafford

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PLAYLIST: IAN MOSS, GUITARIST AND SINGER, COLD CHISEL

Five songs on high rotation

01. Angels/Your Love: Mr Jukes

Lovin’ a lot of brass lately. Great vocals from Bryan James Sledge, aka BJ The Chicago Kid.

02. Close To You: Jacob Collier

JC may not be everybody’s cup of chai latte as a singer, but his one-man-show musicianship is undeniable. Check out his wicked syncopated bass playing on this track!

03. Love: Allen Stone

Gotta be one of the greatest soul singers around at the moment!

04. Blackbird: Fat Freddy’s Drop

An epic piece of Kiwi reggae. Love Dallas Tamaira’s voice!

05. If You Don’t Know Me By Now: Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

An excellent bit of Gamble & Huff Philly soul from way back.