FKA Twigs – LP1

LP1. Love that. Dismissive of the po-faced, bow-down-before-me hubris displayed by most féted progeny, Tahliah Barnett opts for low key and ego-free. As statements of intent go, here’s an album title all about the future. But it begins in the past, album opener Preface lifting directly from 16th-century poet Thomas Wyatt’s I Find No Peace (“I love another and thus I hate myself.”) From there on in, it transforms into an impeccably crafted melange of chill electro and skeletal R'n'B.

“Motherfucker, get your mouth open, you know you're mine,” breathes Twigs on Two Weeks, but LP1 is a million miles away from potty-mouthed sensationalism. Instead it emerges as a candid but tender work, playful but secure in its vision. It reads like a whispered confessional; a generous and sure-footed adventure whose studio smarts (snappy beats, exquisitely detailed backing) provide foundation for a unique and thrilling new voice.