I've historically been a bit on the fence about FKA twigs, whose alien art&B is vibey but tends to wash over me without leaving me much to grab onto.
But that's not at all the case with EUSEXUA, which overflows with addictive pop hooks without sacrificing any of the songwriter's uniqueness. Techno beats give songs like "Room of Fools" and "Perfect Stranger" the throb of a '90s rave, while seductive trip-hop swagger of "Girl Feels Good" is quicker than Madonna on a ray of light. "Keep It, Hold It" begins with the opulent, theatrical drama of Kate Bush — and then imagines what Kate Bush might sound like on the DJ decks.
And then there's "Childlike Things," an absolutely ridiculous bubblegum dance banger featuring 11-year-old North West singing in Japanese, and sounds like an absolutely terrible idea except for the fact that it's unbelievably catchy. Naturally, it's the song prompting confused discussion on the Exclaim! Slack this morning.
And if EUSEXUA falls off a little in its mellow final run of songs — in particular the slapstick sexuality of the very on-the-nose "Striptease" — that's mostly because the first eight songs set the bar so high that it's impossible to top them.