What a pleasant surprise. FKA Twigs has to be one of the most interesting pop artists to get (relatively) famous in the past few years. Despite the fact that I didn't even like the record on the first listen, LP1, which was the first project I heard by her, ended up being one of my favorite albums of last year. I then went back and checked out her past EPs and was equally impressed. There is just something very unique about her off-kilter, at times very experimental production style, which somehow meshes greatly with her beautiful vocals that causes me to frequently keep her projects in my rotation.
FKA twigs production style is clearly not for everyone and may take a couple listens to click with - or at least that is how it went for me. I think there are two main reasons for this, the first one being that this music is quite odd by conventional 2015 pop standards. The second reason, is that there always seems to be very subtle, but gorgeous and intricate details going on in the production that she sings over, things that one may (I did) gloss over during their first listen.
In the past I have said that one could describe FKA twigs as a musical baby between Aaliyah and Bjork. Aaliyah for FKA twigs' occasionally R&B-esque lyrics and vocals - despite the fact that her music is obviously not R&B, and Bjork because she seems to have a knack for making the odd and unconventional beautiful, be it through her music, her image, or her self-directed music videos. Thankfully, this new EP does not do anything to make me regret making the aforementioned comparisons, because it is another great project and easily her best EP yet. I guess I'd classify FKA twigs' music as experimental pop music ("art-pop"), but here, with help from Boots who co-produced the album with her, she is definitely leaning more towards the "experimental" part of her music than she ever has in the past. The more "experimental" lean may put off some fans, but I think she does it masterfully.
In a recent cover story for complex magazine, FKA twigs described M3LL155X as being an EP with "a lot to do with more openly female energy and things that affect that balance", revealing that the EP is called "Melissa" because that is what she has named her "personal female energy". Based on the music here, it seems that FKA twigs "female energy" is frustrated, as one of the things that first stood out to me about this EP is how dark and almost sinister the first two songs, "Figure 8" and "I'm Your Doll", are.
"Figure 8" seems to be her musical reaction to the fame she has acquired through her music and recently revealed relationship with Robert Pattinson. The song opens up with twigs singing over a sparse bass beat that eventually transitions into an eerie, but beautiful bridge of fast moving and altered vocals. The verses here most likely have to do with the annoyances of fame - things like the paparazzi, with lines like, "mass appeal/I feel ten breaths it's a miracle if we're still alive" and "Let me live (hush now, hush now)". While "Figure 8" may take some reading into, "I'm Your Doll", is a song that one could guess the contents of by reading the title. "I'm your doll/wind me up/I'm your doll/dress me up/I'm your doll/love me rough", are probably the most sexually submissive lyrics that she has penned in her career so far. The production of "I'm Your Doll" does something so many other great FKA twigs songs have done fantastically in the past, instead of being stagnant it builds and shifts as it goes on, complementing the lyrics. For example, I love how the beat pounds loudly around the 2:16 mark, giving a real dark and sinister character to the vitriol with which FKA twigs sings the verses, "Stop playing with those other girls/You know it drives me crazy."
The next two songs, "In Time" and "Glass and Patron" are relatively much more upbeat than the previous tracks, though the two songs are completely different. "In Time" strikes me strikes me as the most "accessible", straightforward and somewhat R&B-ish track on the EP, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's brilliant. I think what makes me say this is the catchy chorus in which FKA twigs sings through vocoder ("in time/you'll be doing me right") and the fact that overall lyrically, relationship issue centered lines like "I be feeling the same/In the club in the race/Everyday, everyday/You be testing my sane" combined with the tone in which FKA twigs' sings them immediately gave me a late 90s/early 2000s R&B vibe. Almost hilariously, after the most accessible and smooth song on the EP, the listener is hit with "Glass & Patron", which is arguably the highlight of M3LL155X and probably the most high octane (read: banger) song that FKA twigs has ever made. "Glass & Patron" is an addicting song that opens up with bells and static and eventually turns into a mix of chaotically sped up up vocals sung over a relentless bass. Though "In Time" boasts the most conventional sounding hook of the EP, I'd argue that the manipulation of the "1, 2, 3.../Now hold that pose for me" throughout this song make it the most captivating hook of the EP.
The last song, "Mothercreep" is another extremely interesting track. The thing that I love the most about this song is how the robotic-like element of the repeating chant of "creep, mothercreep" is juxtaposed with how FKA twigs passionately sings "I'll be there soon". How the synth keys in the production slowly shift and progress as FKA twigs sings through the two verses of this song gives the track a very ethereal feel. The use of the keys is probably one of my favorite production moments on the entire EP, absolutely gorgeous stuff.
Overall, I honestly couldn't be happier with this EP. When an artist gets as much attention as FKA twigs has recently, the easy road would be to play it safe and do one of two things (1) not deviate at all from the sound that got you to where you are right now or (2) commercialize your sound in an attempt to widen your fan base, however, here, FKA twigs has done neither. It just seems like instead of constraining herself, she just keeps on digging deeper and experimenting more. On M3LL155X, FKA Twigs continues to make fantastic pop music that is haunting, weird, beautiful and unique all at the same time.
