FKA twigs’ second studio album, Magdalene, released in late 2019, represents a striking evolution in her artistic trajectory. Her 2014 debut, LP1, established her as a daring figure in the experimental pop and R&B scene, known for weaving together futuristic beats with intricate vocal arrangements. With Magdalene, she ventures even further, deepening the emotional scope of her work and embracing a more intimate, haunting tone.
This album arrives in the wake of significant personal struggles, including a highly publicized breakup and serious health issues. These experiences are etched into the fabric of the record, infusing it with vulnerability and strength in equal measure. The emotional core of Magdalene reflects a journey of recovery, both physical and emotional, and twigs channels this through a lens of raw honesty.
Conceptually, twigs draws inspiration from the figure of Mary Magdalene, reimagining her not as a misunderstood symbol but as a complex and powerful archetype of femininity. Through this lens, twigs explores themes of heartache, resilience, and the many layers of womanhood. In interviews, she has described the album as a form of self-reclamation, a process of regaining her voice after feeling silenced by pain.
Sonic Exploration
Magdalene is a masterclass in meticulous production, where every sound feels deliberate, sculpted, and emotionally charged. The album’s sonic palette is rich and refined, often veering into the surreal without losing its emotional immediacy. It’s not lo-fi, nor is it conventionally polished; instead, it strikes a rare balance between crystalline precision and textural depth, mirroring the emotional dualities at the album’s core. Whether it’s the echo of an isolated piano key or the shimmer of layered synths, the production immerses the listener in a world that feels at once ancient and futuristic.
The musical arrangements across Magdalene are equally captivating. Strings often emerge like ghosts from the background, framing twigs’ vocals with a kind of melancholic elegance. Percussion is sparse but impactful, often used more as punctuation than propulsion. Her voice, always a central instrument, shifts effortlessly from angelic falsettos to guttural whispers, modulated in ways that reflect both vulnerability and defiance. On tracks like “Cellophane,” her vocal performance is stripped bare, allowing emotional rawness to take precedence over complexity. In contrast, songs like “Sad Day” and “Home with You” layer vocals and effects to create sonic tapestries that feel almost operatic in scale.
Genre-wise, Magdalene is a fluid entity. It refuses to stay confined within traditional boundaries, drawing from art pop, avant-R&B, baroque pop, and electronic music. There’s a classical underpinning to many of the arrangements, yet they are filtered through modern experimentalism. At times, the album leans into industrial textures; at others, it evokes the minimalism of contemporary chamber music. This genre-blurring is not just a stylistic choice—it’s central to the album’s thematic aim of exploring identity, transformation, and the body as both sacred and scarred.
Lyrical Analysis
At the heart of Magdalene lies a lyrical narrative steeped in themes of heartbreak, self-discovery, and the reclamation of feminine identity. The album unfolds like a confessional, with FKA twigs using her lyrics to navigate emotional ruins and rebuild a sense of self. She writes not just about romantic loss, but about the deeper fractures that such loss can reveal—within the body, the psyche, and one’s sense of worth.
Recurring motifs of physical fragility and spiritual resilience appear throughout the album. In “Cellophane,” twigs confronts the feeling of being seen through, exposed and discarded, as she pleads, “Didn’t I do it for you?” This line, simple on the surface, carries the weight of emotional labor and unreciprocated love. In “Home with You,” she contrasts external chaos with an inner sanctuary, suggesting a retreat into selfhood when the world becomes too hostile. Religious and mythic allusions—most notably to the figure of Mary Magdalene—appear not as dogma but as frameworks for understanding pain and transcendence.
The lyrics are often poetic and fragmented, more impressionistic than literal. Rather than telling linear stories, twigs crafts vignettes and emotional snapshots. Her writing is rich with metaphor and layered meaning, offering multiple interpretations depending on the listener’s own experiences. This abstract approach enhances the album’s mystique and rewards repeated listens.
Emotionally, the lyrics strike a powerful chord. There’s a vulnerability that feels unguarded, yet never desperate. Twigs doesn’t wallow in sorrow—she explores it, interrogates it, and ultimately transforms it. Her words evoke sadness, certainly, but also strength and a hard-won clarity. Through sparse phrases and poignant repetition, she builds an emotional language that is intimate and universal, inviting listeners not just to witness her healing, but to reflect on their own.
Cohesion and Flow
Magdalene is an album that thrives on its sense of continuity. Each track feels like a chapter in a larger story, linked not only by sound but by emotional and thematic threads. The sequencing is deliberate, allowing the album to unfold gradually, with a momentum that feels more emotional than rhythmic. From the aching vulnerability of “Thousand Eyes” to the tender devastation of “Cellophane,” the album charts a path through sorrow, introspection, and resilience with remarkable grace.
There’s a natural rise and fall in intensity across the tracklist, giving the listener space to process the emotional weight carried in each song. “Sad Day” and “Holy Terrain” arrive with a sense of internal conflict, juxtaposing hope with disillusionment. Later, songs like “Fallen Alien” introduce a more defiant energy, capturing moments of resistance and reclaiming power. The final tracks act as a quiet exhale, bringing the emotional arc full circle.
Despite its stylistic diversity—mixing baroque instrumentation, glitchy electronics, and stripped-down balladry—the album never feels disjointed. This cohesion is held together by the unwavering focus on twigs’ vocal presence and the consistent production aesthetic, which favors atmosphere over bombast. Even when songs diverge in tempo or tone, they remain anchored in the same emotional world.
Thematic consistency also plays a key role. The album’s central ideas—healing from emotional trauma, rediscovering strength, and reframing femininity—are present in every track, though approached from different angles. Rather than feeling repetitive, this thematic unity enriches the listening experience, creating a sense of immersion that extends from the first note to the last.
Standout Tracks and Moments
Several tracks on Magdalene rise to the surface as defining moments, each offering a different facet of FKA twigs’ artistry.
Cellophane
Perhaps the most haunting and memorable is “Cellophane.” Stripped to its bare essentials, it places twigs’ voice in stark relief, accompanied by minimal piano and aching silence. The rawness of her vocal delivery, paired with the devastating refrain “Didn’t I do it for you?” captures the emotional core of the album—fragility, sacrifice, and a yearning to be understood.
Home with You
“Home with You” is another standout, beginning with an almost lullaby-like gentleness before erupting into a forceful climax. The track showcases her ability to shift dynamics dramatically, using her voice as both melody and emotional weapon. The transition from vulnerability to strength within a single song encapsulates one of the album’s key themes: the power found in reclaiming one’s narrative.
Fallen Alien
“Fallen Alien” offers a different kind of intensity. It is bold, angular, and sonically aggressive, revealing a fiercer side of twigs. The glitchy beats and theatrical delivery highlight her versatility as both a singer and a performer. Here, she doesn’t just process pain—she wields it, transforming emotional wounds into a defiant performance.
Holy Terrain
On “Holy Terrain,” featuring Future, twigs ventures into a more trap-influenced landscape without sacrificing the album’s introspective mood. Her interplay with Future brings a contrasting texture to the project, making it one of the more accessible yet thematically rich tracks. It’s a moment where mainstream collaboration meets high-concept art, and it works precisely because of how twigs controls the narrative space.
Artistic Contribution and Innovation
Magdalene occupies a unique space within the landscape of contemporary music. While it draws from genres like art pop, avant-R&B, and experimental electronica, it transcends easy classification. FKA twigs doesn’t just inhabit these genres—she reshapes them, bending their conventions to suit her deeply personal narrative. In doing so, she sets a new standard for what pop music can achieve when it dares to be emotionally raw and sonically adventurous.
In an industry often driven by formula and repetition, Magdalene is a bold refusal to conform. It challenges mainstream expectations with its unconventional song structures, unpredictable shifts in tone, and a production style that privileges atmosphere over hooks. This alone is a statement of artistic courage, especially in an era where streaming metrics often dictate creative choices.
Innovation
One of the album’s most innovative qualities is its seamless fusion of classical and electronic elements. Rather than juxtaposing these sounds for contrast, twigs and her collaborators intertwine them into something that feels organic and futuristic at once. The use of harpsichord-like keys, choral harmonies, and glitchy beats creates a sonic world that feels untethered from time, offering both a sense of antiquity and modern disorientation.
Her vocal approach is also groundbreaking. Twigs treats her voice not just as a vehicle for melody, but as a dynamic instrument in itself—breathing, stuttering, soaring, and fracturing in ways that mimic the emotional spectrum she explores. The manipulation of vocals to express pain, doubt, and power becomes an integral part of the album’s texture, adding depth without sacrificing authenticity.
Thematically, Magdalene reclaims the image of Mary Magdalene not as a symbol of shame, but of layered strength and misunderstood virtue. This reinterpretation adds a feminist dimension to the album, aligning twigs’ personal story with a broader cultural conversation about agency and representation.
Closing Thoughts
Magdalene is a fearless and emotionally resonant work that showcases FKA twigs at her most vulnerable and visionary. Its greatest strength lies in how seamlessly it weaves together emotional depth, sonic innovation, and thematic ambition. From its ethereal production and genre-defying sound to its poetic, introspective lyrics, the album feels like a fully immersive experience—one that invites listeners into the intimate process of breaking down and building anew.
What sets Magdalene apart is not just its technical brilliance, but its humanity. FKA twigs allows her fragility to take center stage without ever compromising her power as an artist. The result is an album that feels deeply personal yet universally affecting, offering comfort, reflection, and challenge in equal measure.
While the album’s abstract nature and deliberate pacing might not appeal to every listener, these elements are also what make it so distinctive. There are no concessions made to radio trends or chart formulas; this is art made on its own terms. For those willing to engage with its complexities, Magdalene offers a profound and lingering impact.
As a career statement, Magdalene elevates FKA twigs beyond the realm of genre experimenter into that of a truly singular artist—one whose work expands the emotional and aesthetic boundaries of modern music.
Official Rating: 9/10
This score reflects the album’s bold artistic vision, its innovative production, and its emotional honesty. It doesn’t strive for perfection in the traditional sense, but rather creates a unique space where imperfection is embraced as a form of truth. It’s not only one of the most compelling albums of the decade, but also a defining moment in FKA twigs’ evolution as a boundary-breaking force in contemporary music.