Album Review: FKA twigs, 'Caprisongs'

No account of the state of popular music and culture in the 2010s is complete without mentioning FKA twigs. Ever the boundary-obliterating tempest of boldness and authenticity, FKA twigs has treated us to one of 2022's strongest Album of the Year contenders. Caprisongs, her first mixtape, is a smartly sequenced collection of tracks that prioritize freedom and control with a healthy dash of tongue-in-cheek cockiness. Featuring appearances from The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, Pa Salieu, and more, Caprisongs finds an artist that has thrived just outside of the mainstream finally making her foray into the center lane, but still on her own terms.

Caprisongs commences with "Ride the Dragon," a lush patchwork of Janet Jackson-esque purrs and a glitchy soundscape of scratches, booming bass, futuristic flute, and hollow percussion. At the very onset of the song, she coos, "Hey, I made you a mixtape." FKA twigs has always been a masterful worldbuilder, and on Caprisongs she remains steadfast in her commitment to that component of her artistry. "Ride the Dragon" is an inviting introduction — sultry enough to spur intrigue and unpredictable enough to remain close to her oeuvre of alternative R&B and electronica. This is a gilded invitation to ride the dragon of her artistry into new sonic dimensions. She chants "If you really wanna kiss me, kiss me (Do it quickly, do it)" countless times throughout the song, but it's more than a lustful dare. For years, FKA twigs has been lauded as underrated (a loaded term if there ever was one) because she has chosen lanes outside of the Top 40 pure pop realm where she could reign supreme if she wanted to. From intricate arrangements to eye-popping artwork and music videos, it can be intimidating to enter the FKA twigs universe. With this song, however, she's talking to those apprehensive listeners and telling them to take the dive with her if they really want to.

And what better way to enter the world of FKA twigs than through Caprisongs, her most accessible collection of songs yet? There's nothing as peculiar as, say "Mothercreep," on Caprisongs, but the mixtape is able to convert twigs's myriad idiosyncrasies into bite-sized chunks of relatively more digestible tracks. "Honda," which features Pa Salieu, revels in reverberant echoes of drill and afrobeats, two genres that FKA twigs is not necessarily known for but unquestionably makes her own. The pair fit together like Ja Rule and Ashanti. In fact, their chemistry is reminiscent of that iconic pair in the way that twigs's fluttery falsetto is juxtaposed against Pa's gravelly delivery. The best part of "Honda," however, is the last minute of the song where a combination of piano and "oohs" lifts the track to a new feverish level of erraticism and eroticism. That erraticism then transforms into a haunted choir on the ascendant "Meta Angel."

Caprisongs, in all of its bits of dialogue and cinematic interludes, is pure fun. The seemingly uncompromising blue in which so much of her discography was encased has dissipated. Nonetheless, it's still there in bits and pieces on tracks like the slightly melancholy "Tears In The Club," a Weeknd-assisted dancefloor anthem buoyed by waves of grief. Caprisongs nimbly courses through different stages of emotions and meanders through subliminally connected trains of thought. "Pamplemousse" a delightfully busy hodgepodge of pretty much everything ends with a plea for the release of the highly anticipated Dua Lipa collaboration "Why Don't You Love Me." Always one step ahead, twigs knows the power that she has over us — and she's going to keep us waiting. Soon after, twigs touches on the vitality of control and consent in "Lightbeamers." The one-two punch of "Papi Bones" and "Which Way," however, is the highlight of the tape. The former is a bombastic dancehall confection rife with blaring horns and an attitude-filled vocal performance unlike anything twigs has ever delivered before. The latter, which is affectionately referred to as elevator music in its intro, finds twigs centering herself with mantras of being more than just the rockstar girlfriend – she is the rockstar.

The collaborations on Caprisongs push twigs to the pockets of different artists like on "Careless," a Daniel Caesar-featuring slow jam that sounds straight from the Case Study 01 recording sessions. In totality, the mixtape is truly a breath of fresh air... but even that feels like a gross understatement. It's a privilege to hear twigs sound so free and to hear her sound continue to evolve into something so distinct yet so malleable. Ever the chameleon, if Caprisongs is the mixtape, the next album is sure to be seismic.

Key Tracks: "Honda" | "Which Way" | "Minds of Men" | "Careless" | "Papi Bones"

Score: 85