Dionte Berry
Editor-in-Chief
dberry11@murraystate.edu
After her heartbreaking and trauma-riddled sophomore album “Magdalene,” FKA Twigs bursts back onto the scene with her mixtape “CAPRISONGS,” which introduces her listeners to dancehall, afrobeats and hip-hop influences.
Tahliah Debrett Barnett, professionally known as FKA Twigs, is an English singer, songwriter and performer.
“CAPRISONGS” is showing a freer and more playful side of Twigs. Her sophomore album “Magdalene” highlights a part of her life following her breakup and the removal of fibroid tumors from her uterus.
Twigs’ mixtape features a wide range of collaborations from artists such as The Weeknd, Shygirl and Jorja Smith, as well as production by Arca.
The 17 song tracklist starts with “ride the dragon,” which begins with a whispery introduction and deeper voice that can almost feel like a conversation. The momentum starts slowly, but picks up with Twigs’ voice coming through clearly, as if she is punching through the fog.
Twigs floats in between fast-talking and singing, but overall, she has a far stronger and confident vocal presence.
“honda” begins with a spoken word intro by British rapper Pa Salieu over a wavering church choir. Twigs’ vocals burst through with a deep beat and clicking instrumentals.
The hip-hop influences are apparent. Instead of maintaining her wispy, light voice that she is known for, Twigs’ voice is deeper and moves along the lines of a rap.
“meta angel” starts with a conversation between Twigs’ and her friends, and it ends with a tape ejection. Listeners become reacquainted with Twigs’ soft, angelic vocals harmonizing in the background.
What starts out as soft becomes harder and more metallic. Twigs has a deeply autotuned verse, which is taken over by a hip hop beat, and ends with a pounding industrial beat in the background.
“tears in the club” is the leading single of “CAPRISONGS” and features The Weeknd. With an R&B and metallic vibe, Twigs and the Weeknd sing about struggling to forget about a lover.
“oh my love” immerses the listener in a foggy 2000’s R&B sound. For the most part, Twigs sings softly; however, she gains force when she chants, “Everybody knows that I want your love, why you playin’ baby boy, what’s up?”
“pamplemousse” is infused with dancehall drums. This short track has a soft, bright energy with more spoken word lyrics.
“caprisongs interlude” is a 26-second spacey interlude where FKA Twigs says, “caprisongs.” Although it is short, the interlude features barking from her dog Solo who went missing toward the end of 2021.
“lightbeamers” has a calm piano and soft beat intro with Twigs nonchalantly talking. Her calm singing breaks into a higher pitch and faster pace around a minute into the song, reminiscent of that of hyperpop autotune.
The track goes in between Twigs low-pitch talking and high autotuned moments.
“papi bones,” featuring Shygirl, revisits dancehall influences. Twigs goes in between a lower and higher pitch as she raps over bright percussion and a trumpet with Shygirl bringing in her signature low voice.
“which way” featuring Dystopia, starts with a fast, stifling beat, which is broken up by short spoken pieces.
“jealousy,” featuring Rema, begins with a calm reggaeton drum and light harp-like chords. This simple track highlights the jealousy of a partner.
“careless,” featuring Daniel Caesar, has a foggy slow beat, and Twigs’ voice goes in between being layered and unlayered. “You can be careless with me” is repeated in the chorus and creates the scene of Twigs asking her lover to be carefree with her as if they are unloading their burdens.
Caesar’s vocals add a gospel tone, and he closes the song as Twigs harmonizes in the background.
“minds of men” begins with broken vocals used as an instrument. Then, Twigs’ soft vocals come in, and the broken vocals return to the background. Overall, the calm track has a pretty sound, but pales in comparison to other tracks on the mixtape.
“track girl interlude” features a conversation between Twigs and her friends surrounded by delicate chords and a glitchy instrumental that enters and leaves sound bites. Twigs starts singing, and her vocals begin to repeat almost like a record caught on a groove.
Twigs is back to rapping on “darjeeling,” featuring Jorja Smith and Unknown T. Twigs flows over a trap beat and an instrumental that feels as if it is hiccuping with short little pauses.
Smith’s vocals create a contrast to both Twigs’ and Unknown T’s rapping.
“christi interlude” feels a little satirical. It has an audio of someone explaining what can be assumed to be Twig’s astrological chart, since astrology is one of the themes of “CAPRISONGS.”
“thank you song” is a beautiful ending for the album, and it immediately pulls the listener in with the opening lyrics, “I wanted to die, I am just being honest.” As Twigs continues through this piano ballad, it reveals that she is now treasuring the love of another.
Overall, I enjoyed the “CAPRISONGS” experience and am happy to see Twigs climb closer to the light, using a stronger voice which makes it feel as though she has agency over her own feelings.
With the mixtape having 17 songs, some are bound to be more forgettable than others. “which way,” “minds of men,” and the interludes on the back half of the album are a bit forgettable.
With that being said, it’s perfectly fine not every track is exactly memorable, because it’s a mixtape and is allowing Twigs to experiment.
I enjoy this project is more loosely jointed than her past projects, which were more tightly curated and had stronger bonds between tracks.
“honda” is a banger and a stand out track for me. I love Twigs’ rapping, and the overall dancehall influence makes for a solid and memorable track.
“CAPRISONGS” is a great addition to Twigs’ discography, and for that, this project deserves a seven out of 10. I am excited to see where Twigs takes us next.