MAGDALENE
Tahliah “FKA twigs” Barnett conjures images of a far-away planet where cats purr melodies and you can see music swirling through the air like puffs of gossamer in the wind.
The long-awaited follow-up to LP1 offers her signature, ethereal vocals paired with otherworldly, emotional elements and goosebump-evoking notes.
Smoky and silky, MAGDALENE turns feminism on a dime in the title track, about the “creature of desire” when she sings: “A woman’s work / a woman’s prerogative / a woman’s time to embrace she must put herself first.”
Rapper Future joins on the Hip Hop anthem, “Holy Terrain,” adding a modern twist on what’s bound to become a classic release. Pitting sweet, tinkling pianos against coarse, rasping synths, the avant-pop album is the equivalent of a robust glass of Cabernet and dark chocolate in a candlelit bubble bath.
Gloucestershire-born Barnett—who reportedly got her nickname from her penchant for cracking her joints loudly—channels Kate Bush’s strange lyrical style in tracks that smack of heretics, conjuring the hotly-debated Mary Magdalene, who was either a prostitute befriended by Jesus Christ himself, his wife — or both.
Best Track: Cellophane
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