An Old Review of Caprisongs by FKA twigs

FKA twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, is the true princess of avant-pop. The British multi-hyphenate singer-dancer-producer is back with her third full length album, Caprisongs. Caprisongs is twigs’ first project in over two years, following up the massive success of 2019’s critically acclaimed Magdalene. For listeners tuning in to hear the next Magdalene, you may be surprised. If you’re giving Caprisongs a listen for the first time expecting the weird, engineered, very avant-garde-ness of her previous albums and EPs, you might not get what you’re looking for. Caprisongs is still equally as meticulous as twigs’ previous two albums Magdalene and the very literally named, LP2, with spotless production and vocals from head to toe However, Caprisongs is a more mainstream and digestible record.

Caprisongs album cover

Two years ago, I couldn’t have imagined twigs straying from her weird, mechanical, alien sound that she’s been establishing as her brand since 2012. And it's not to say that twigs has put her oddities down to make a perfectly saccharine pop album, but Caprisongs stray from its predecessors in its inclusion of trap, dancehall, drum’n’bass, and hyperpop. But, having listened, and relistened to Caprisongs quite a few times, I think that the album fits twigs’ body of work quite well. It’s still instinctively her. The album is metallic and shining, just like the rest of her discography. It remains true to form in its electronic and dance-y elements, even more so than previous works. Of course, the attention to detail is perfectly precise. Caprisongs shines as an exciting new jewel in twig’s collection

Caprisongs starts with one of my favorite songs on the album, “ride the dragon.” The song opens with twigs’ saccharine sweet voice saying “Hey, I made you a mixtape.” It feels intimate and personal. Her voice is so soft that it sounds like she’s whispering right into your ear. There is talking interspersed throughout the rest of the album as well. The conversations included on the record are moments between twigs’ and friends about their love lives and their goals. twigs clues you into the fact that this is an important personal record for her right away.

These conversations, combined with the messages of love and admissions of self that twigs puts into each track make the album feel like twigs is a trusted friend letting you read her diary. 

The beginning of the third track on the album, “meta angel”, starts with a conversation between twigs and friends about how she wants to be more confident and really own her stuff this year. As the track continues, the listener is treated to a serene and very vulnerable track in which twigs prays for a higher power, a ‘meta angel,’ to help life go easier on her. On “oh my love”, my favorite track off of the album, the song begins with a recount of a disappointing relationship and ends with how to be confident in spite of it. Sandwiched between these two snippets of conversation is a trap-y lament against a boy who just won't commit.

By the time the album comes to a close, you can tell that twigs is optimistic. On the third to last track on the mixtape, "darjeeling," a collaboration with Jorja Smith and Unknown T, twigs recaps snippets of her youth over a drill beat, looking back on them now with a nostalgia that only growth can provide you. The cornerstone of this song is the clearly sung line: ‘you’re not alone.’ With high and flitting vocals, twigs has sung you through how painful her year has been, and how, with the help of her friends, she’s gotten through all of the bullshit. By the time you reach “thank you song”, the 17th and final track on Caprisongs, you can tell that, like everybody, she’s trying her best to make 2022 a better year than 2020 and 2021 have been.

On the day of Caprisongs’ release, twigs took to Instagram and admitted that, between the release of Magdalene back in 2019 and the conception of Caprisongs, she had toyed with the idea of not creating music anymore. She continues on to say that, instead of putting down a stellar music career, the creation of Caprisongs became a journey back to herself, with the help of her friends and collaborators.