FKA Twigs
LP1

The 26-year-old Londoner Tahliah Debrett Barnett quietly strolled into my little sound universe, without much fanfare, miraculous reviews, or announcements, simply with a video presented by her record label ("Two Weeks"). Her Ethiopian-like simple beauty strikes me immediately, her voice dense yet light and whispered at the same time. But even more so, the complex electronic patterns that support the piece captivate me. I like it. I need to delve deeper.

Behind a rather unfortunate name (FKA Twigs, formerly known as Twigs), hides an artist whose existence I was unaware of until recently (with each passing day my ignorance spreads). I discover that after two very simply named EPs (EP1 and EP2 just to avoid confusion), T.D.B. has just released her debut album LP1 (you can't go wrong with that!). Tahliah sings, plays, dances, she is a delightful jack of all trades. In the ten tracks, the space left free by her typically R'n'B voice is filled by a series of electronic constructions that (perhaps very cleverly to please everyone a little) encompass various subgenres: Bristolian trip-hop, slow dub, fragmented and disturbing glitch, obsessive dubstep. The rhythms are broken and seemingly disordered, the electronic buildups are dense and baroque. The result is ten very enjoyable, disorienting, and engaging tracks. An exquisitely constructed album, perhaps excessively overproduced, offering stunning moments ("Lights On" and "Two Weeks" above all).

Am I facing a new fixed star or perhaps a fleeting comet that will slowly burn out on its long journey? It's hard to express a sensible judgment. I suspend my analyses, halt my cerebral activities, rein in my processing synapses, and leave room for the musical seduction of F(I)KA Twigs.

I like her, but I sense a slight smell of burning. Tahliah will have to be very careful, I will be a bloodhound, I won't let her out of my sight for a moment (but who would let go of someone like her?), until next time.