Just over a year on from her debut album LP1, FKA Twigs’ kind-of-surprise EP M3LL155X sees her taking a bolder, riskier take on the alternative R&B sound she’s developed in her career so far. LP1 showed a ton of promise, full of beautiful vocal arrangements and an ethereal mix of R&B and trip-hop — but too often it was too focused on creating atmosphere, causing the songs to feel sluggish and unfocused. M3LL155X builds on the strengths of LP1, but offers the sense of dynamism and pure excitement that stretches of LP1 lacked.
So the big idea here: Melissa (M3LL155X) is the name for FKA Twigs’ female energy, and this EP is an exploration of that side of her. FKA Twigs has always explored emotions like desire and jealousy in the past, but focusing on her energy allows her to write songs with an emotional directness that I really enjoy. Throughout the album, FKA Twigs deals with a conflictual relationship (“I be feeling the same / In the club, in the rave / Everyday, everyday / You be testing my sane”) and the desire to improve oneself (“You are phoenix, you are fire, you are everything / I just want for you to love you”). A lot of the lyrics on this release come across as dealing with a boyfriend, but I’m a bit infatuated with the idea that the conflictual relationship exists between Melissa and FKA Twigs — partly because of all the strange vocal effects going on throughout the EP, and partly to make the mentions of mother on “Mothercreep” fit in with the rest of the album.
So M3LL155X deals with conflict, a sense of not knowing yourself. How does FKA Twigs reinforce these feelings instrumentally? In songs like “I’m Your Doll,” producer BOOTS incorporates the use of noise, breaking up the song with blasts of dissonance. It gives the whole song a threatening feel, especially taken with FKA Twigs’ demands to stop playing with other girls. “Glass & Patron” goes in a different direction, dropping some heavy bass to give the track a real propulsive feel, the most urgent I’ve heard on an FKA Twigs song. FKA Twigs also delivers this urgency with her vocals, adding a rapid, staccato delivery.
FKA Twigs changes structure on these songs a lot, too. “In Time” has two drastically different deliveries in the verses and choruses, and its instrumentals shift from calm and atmospheric to booming with trap-flavored hi-hat, all the while playing with this really dehumanizing dual pitch shift on the back half. These songs change drastically from verse to chorus to bridge, and the sudden mood shifts are well executed, expressing the conflict and uncertainty of the lyrics.
M3LL155X is a confident record, one where FKA Twigs fulfills all the potential she’s shown on past releases. She and BOOTS form an outstanding partnership. They know where each other want to take these songs and create a sound that’s unlike anything else. I’m excited to see where they go next.