Just a year after LP1, FKA Twigs' highly-acclaimed debut album, the singer has now premiered "Figure 8" on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show. "Figure 8" is the lead single off her forthcoming EP, Melissa.
Twigs performed at Lollapalooza last night, and today, she gave us her first music since "Glass & Patron," which was released in March alongside a stunning video. "Figure 8" was debuted by Zane Lowe on his Apple Music radio show. Lowe had a brief chat with Twigs before playing "Figure 8" and continued the interview afterwards, in which Twigs explained the song's inspiration. Lowe then lets the "absolute banger" play out one more time.
An airy but punishing atmosphere surrounds Twigs' vocals as ominous horns, heavy bass and creepy electronic skittering interject moments of quiet. Around two and half minutes in, Twigs' shrill singing dissembles into an unintelligible flurry of strange whispers before all of the track's elements piece back together for a thrilling climax.
It's as ambitious a composition as Twigs has attempted in her career but it also has the power to capture the mood in a big-room club.
After Lowe premiered the track, Twigs explained that the song is inspired by the figure 8 dance move associated with "voguing." Voguing is a style of dance that started in the mid-'80s by marginalized clubgoers in New York. In vogue dancing, the figure 8 is "the eternal move that never stops moving."
In her Complex cover story, Twigs said her next EP will be called Melissa, on which "Figure 8" as well as "Glass & Patron" will appear. She also spoke on her engagement to Twilight star Robert Pattinson. The EP will also feature the unheard tracks "Mother Creep," "I'm Your Doll" and "In Time."
