Reviewed on Wednesday February 4
It’s rare for an artist to embody their work so fully that their persona becomes inseparable from their music. For all the talk about the ‘enigma’ that is FKA Twigs (AKA Tahliah Barnett), it’s hard to think of a contemporary who lays their cards so openly on the table. Is she really all that mysterious?
FKA Twigs’ music centres on raw emotion, dealing with sex in a way that is both intelligent and experimental. Labelling it as ‘exotic’ or ‘mysterious’ or even ‘trip hop’ is reductive, and ignores its sharper, starker edges. The truth is, FKA Twigs doesn’t really sound like anyone else, and her live performance is similarly distinct.
Sure, the stage was shrouded in mist from the start, obscuring the band until the first, scraping beats of ‘Preface’ kicked in with abrasive strobes. The thing that is so different about FKA Twigs’ music, which is firmly centred on sensuality and sexuality, is its raw vulnerability. Not just the lyrics, which were actually difficult to make out live, but the huge spaces in her music. She is unafraid of silence, of slow builds, of making you work for the payoff.
That level of emotional intensity could have easily devolved into parody – too intense and moody – but the energy bordered on playful. This was in large part because of Twigs’ ability to move onstage. ‘Two Weeks’ and ‘Pendulum’ were punctuated with her angular turns and impressive manoeuvres. Instead of feeling like a long, confessional performance, it made it clear that FKA Twigs is a performer, that this was a dramatised version of reality, and gave us permission to indulge. So even with strobe lights, a packed-out venue, screaming fans and wild movements, a sense of intimacy was left intact.
Tracks like ‘Water Me’, performed live, lacked the detached quality they have on record. But the three-strong backing band kept things tight – no easy feat with multitude layers and syncopated rhythms. They made it look easy – well, at least through the layer of fog.
The only time the dramatised image of FKA Twigs – intense, effortless, unfiltered – was in doubt was when she took a moment to thank her band and the crowd. She was soft-spoken, exceedingly humble and grateful. But then maybe the label of ‘dramatised’ is as wrong as calling her a sensuous alt-hip hop ‘enigma’. Actually, it seems like FKA Twigs, on record and in person, is – above all else – genuine.
