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Magdalene (album)

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Magdalene
Studio album by
FKA Twigs
Released8 November 2019 (2019-11-08)
Recorded2016–2019[1]
Studio
Genre
Length38:48
LabelYoung Turks
Producer
FKA Twigs chronology
M3LL155X
(2015) 		Magdalene
(2019) 		Caprisongs
(2022)
Singles from Magdalene
  1. "Cellophane"
    Released: 24 April 2019
  2. "Holy Terrain"
    Released: 9 September 2019
  3. "Home with You"
    Released: 7 October 2019
  4. "Sad Day"
    Released: 4 November 2019

Magdalene is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. Released on 8 November, 2019, by Young Turks, it is her first project since her EP M3LL155X (2015), and first full-length record since LP1 (2014). The album features a sole guest appearance from American rapper Future. FKA Twigs produced the album herself, with a wide range of co-producers including Nicolas Jaar, Koreless, Daniel Lopatin, Skrillex, Benny Blanco, Michael Uzowuru and Noah Goldstein, who also served as executive producer alongside Twigs.

The singles "Cellophane", "Holy Terrain", "Home with You", and "Sad Day" were released on 24 April, 9 September, 7 October, and 4 November, respectively. The album was supported by the Magdalene Tour.

Background

[edit]

On 9 September 2019, FKA Twigs announced that her second studio album Magdalene would be released on 25 October; the album preorder and track listing were made available the same day. The album cover was designed by English artist Matthew Stone.[2]

Barnett wrote in a press release announcing her second studio album:

I never thought heartbreak could be so all-encompassing. I never thought that my body could stop working to the point that I couldn't express myself physically in the ways that I have always loved and found so much solace. I have always practiced my way into being the best I could be, but I couldn't do that this time, I was left with no option but to tear every process down. But the process of making this album has allowed me for the first time, and in the most real way, to find compassion when I have been at my most ungraceful, confused and fractured. I stopped judging myself and at that moment found hope in Magdalene. To her I am forever grateful.[3]

The album was inspired by her 2017 breakup with actor Robert Pattinson.[4]

Musical style

[edit]

On Magdalene, twigs crafts electronic art pop, fusing it with "lurid" modern dance and "carnal" soul music.[5] However, it is also described as "[defying] both genre and classification".[6] This embrace of "adventurous" experimentation echoes musicians like Björk and Kate Bush.[6] It features elements of pop,[7][6][8] avant-garde,[8] R&B,[7][9][10] trap,[11] hip hop,[9] trip hop,[10] alt-pop,[8] punk rock,[7] industrial,[8] opera,[7] chamber pop,[7] and Bulgarian folk.[11][12]

Promotion

[edit]

Singles

[edit]

The lead single "Cellophane" was released on 24 April 2019.[13] The second single "Holy Terrain" featuring American rapper Future was released on 9 September.[2] "Home with You" was released on 7 October after the album's release date was pushed from 25 October to 8 November.[14] "Sad Day" was released on 4 November.[15]

Tour

[edit]
Main article: Magdalene Tour

For the Magdalene album tour, FKA Twigs learned pole dancing and wushu.[16]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.5/10[17]
Metacritic88/100[18]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Daily Telegraph[19]
The Guardian[20]
The Independent[21]
NME[22]
The Observer[23]
Pitchfork9.4/10[8]
Q[24]
Rolling Stone[25]
The Times[26]

Magdalene was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 88, based on 28 reviews.[18] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[17]

Heather Phares of AllMusic gave a positive review, stating "At once more delicate and more concentrated than any of her previous work, Magdalene is a testament to the strength and skill it takes to make music this fragile and revealing. Like the dancer she is, Barnett pushes through pain in pursuit of beauty and truth, and the leaps she makes are breathtaking".[11] Alexandra Pollard of The Independent said, "The follow-up to 2014's LP1 is the sound of a woman teetering on the brink of collapse, gathering herself, and then erupting into a kind of defiance".[21] Magdalene was named "Album of the Week" by The Line of Best Fit, and reviewer Jack Bray called it the "fullest and most developed work from FKA Twigs to date", writing that Barnett "comprehensively opens herself up to consider the traumas of her past. It is an unsparing, anguished release in which we see an artist laid bare and tapping into a more natural and resonant version of her sound and self".[27] Reviewing the album for NME, El Hunt stated: "Tahliah Barnett's been to tabloid hell and back and experienced gruelling ill-health, all of which is explored on her huge, panoramic second album."[22] The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick wrote, "Magdalene is a magnificently twisted sci-fi torch album, an enthralling account of love, loss, heartbreak and recovery. It is erotic and neurotic, confounding and revelatory, summoning the spirits of such iconoclastic talents as David Bowie, Kate Bush and Björk while affirming its own unique personality".[19] Exclaim! critic Ryan B. Patrick said, "The intent, execution and expression is pure. But the ominous feel of the entire project overwhelms, in parts, with a forlorn sense of distance and dread – which appears to be the point – yet its subsuming sense of femininity, sexuality, free will and determinism paradoxically draws us in".[28]

Josh Gray from Clash enjoyed the album, saying, "Almost every track on Magdalene is built upwards from a simple piano line, hammering home the impression of someone delicately yet decisively knitting themselves back together after coming undone".[29] Emily Mackay of The Observer saying "Magdalene is a much starker, more emotionally direct album than 2014's LP1, most noticeably in twigs's voice, which moves with sleek power from delicate operatic acrobatics to muscular intimacy. It's also bracingly frank".[23] Pitchfork awarded Magdalene the distinction of "Best New Music", with Julianne Escobedo Shepherd describing it as "her best album so far", saying that it "is as introspective as anything she's written, but more obviously centers her voice as a conduit for plain emotion".[8] In a mixed review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis stated: "Sometimes the results are stunning ... Sometimes, however, the songs are weirdly stifling."[20]

Year-end lists

[edit]
Select year-end rankings of Magdalene
Publication List Rank Ref.
The A.V. Club The 20 Best Albums of 2019
1
[30]
Billboard 50 Best Albums of 2019
19
[31]
Complex Best Albums of 2019
39
[32]
The Guardian The 50 Best Albums of 2019
7
[33]
The Independent The 50 Best Albums of 2019
31
[34]
NME The 50 Best Albums of 2019
6
[35]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019
2
[36]
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2019
36
[37]
Spin 10 Best Albums of 2019
5
[38]
Time The 10 Best Albums of 2019
1
[39]

Track listing

[edit]
Magdalene track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Thousand Eyes"
Jaar5:00
2."Home with You"
  • Twigs
  • Ethan P. Flynn
3:44
3."Sad Day"
4:15
4."Holy Terrain" (featuring Future)
4:03
5."Mary Magdalene"
  • Twigs
  • Blanco
  • Jaar
  • Høiberg
  • Twigs
  • Blanco
  • Jaar
  • Koreless[a]
  • Cashmere Cat[a]
  • Goldstein[a]
5:21
6."Fallen Alien"
  • Twigs
  • Flynn
  • Cy An
  • Jaar
  • Arthur Timothy Jones
  • Milton Ray Biggham
  • Twigs
  • Jaar
3:58
7."Mirrored Heart"
  • Twigs
  • Flynn
  • Cy An
  • Roberts
  • Twigs
  • Koreless
4:32
8."Daybed"
Lopatin4:31
9."Cellophane"
  • Twigs
  • Kleinman
  • Uzowuru
3:24
Total length:38:48
Japanese bonus track[40]
No.TitleLength
10."Cellophane" (live at the Wallace Collection)3:56
Total length:42:44

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • ^[b] signifies a vocal producer

Samples

  • "Holy Terrain" contains a sample from "Moma Hubava", composed by Petar Lyondev, performed by Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, conducted by Prof. Dora Hristova and recorded by KEXP.
  • "Fallen Alien" contains a sample from "Storm Clouds Rising" by the Florida Mass Choir.

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[41]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Magdalene
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[42] 22
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[43] 56
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[44] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[45] 76
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[46] 57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[47] 55
French Albums (SNEP)[48] 113
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[49] 78
Irish Albums (IRMA)[50] 39
Italian Albums (FIMI)[51] 76
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[52] 118
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[53] 19
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[54] 27
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[55] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[56] 28
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[57] 60
UK Albums (OCC)[58] 21
US Billboard 200[59] 54
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[60] 1

Release history

[edit]
Release dates and formats for Magdalene
Country Date Label Format Ref.
Various 8 November 2019 Young Turks
[61]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Except "Holy Terrain", recorded at Henson and Conway in Los Angeles

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mamo, Heran (9 September 2019). "FKA Twigs Announces Long-Awaited Sophomore Album 'Magdalene,' Recruits Future For 'Holy Terrain': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Cowen, Trace William (9 September 2019). "FKA twigs Shares Release Date and Cover Art for New Album 'MAGDALENE'". Complex. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  3. ^ Monroe, Jazz (9 September 2019). "FKA twigs Details New Album MAGDALENE, Out Next Month". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  4. ^ Fu, Eddie (12 November 2019). "FKA Twigs Explains How Her Breakup With Robert Pattinson Influenced 'MAGDALENE'". Genius. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  5. ^ Jenkins, Craig (8 November 2019). "FKA Twigs Makes Great Art Out of Great Pain on Magdalene". Vulture. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Murphy, John (8 November 2019). "FKA twigs – Magdalene". musicOMH. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e Gatward, Tristan (5 November 2019). "FKA Twigs – Magdalene". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Shepherd, Julianne Escobedo (8 November 2019). "FKA twigs: MAGDALENE". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  9. ^ a b Stasis, Spyros (7 November 2019). "FKA twigs: Magdalene (album review)". PopMatters. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b SowingSeason (13 November 2020). "Review: FKA Twigs – Magdalene". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d Phares, Heather. "Magdalene – FKA twigs". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  12. ^ Hristova, Ellie (8 November 2019). "SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FKA TWIGS – MAGDALENE". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  13. ^ Schatz, Lake (24 April 2019). "FKA twigs returns with new single "Cellophane": Stream". Consequence. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  14. ^ Bruce-Jones, Henry (7 October 2019). "FKA twigs shares video for new track, 'home with you'". Fact. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  15. ^ Blistein, Jon (4 November 2019). "FKA Twigs Unveils New 'Magdalene' Cut 'Sad Day'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  16. ^ Myers, Owen (22 October 2019). "The Sacred and Profane Genius of FKA twigs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  17. ^ a b "MAGDALENE by FKA Twigs reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Magdalene by FKA twigs Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  19. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (7 November 2019). "FKA Twigs, Magdalene, review: a magnificently twisted album that summons the spirits of Bowie and Björk". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  20. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (7 November 2019). "FKA twigs: Magdalene review – stifled perfection from pop's poledancing swordfighter". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  21. ^ a b Pollard, Alexandra (7 November 2019). "FKA twigs review, MAGDALENE: The sound of a woman teetering on the brink of collapse". The Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. ^ a b Hunt, El (15 November 2019). "FKA twigs – 'Magdalene' review: an unstoppable force of nature rolls out her enormously ambitious vision". NME. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  23. ^ a b Mackay, Emily (10 November 2019). "FKA twigs: Magdalene review – inner battles that will stay with you". The Observer. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  24. ^ Segal, Victoria (December 2019). "Alien Forms". Q (405): 111.
  25. ^ Hermes, Will (8 November 2019). "FKA Twigs Makes Pop That Moves Beyond Genre on 'Magdalene'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  26. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (8 November 2019). "FKA Twigs: Magdalene review – at last she's twigged that image comes after songs". The Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  27. ^ Bray, Jack (4 November 2019). "Magdalene is FKA Twigs' finest work to date". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  28. ^ Patrick, Ryan B. (5 November 2019). "FKA twigs Magdalene". Exclaim!. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  29. ^ Gray, Josh (4 November 2019). "FKA twigs – Magdalene". Clash. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  30. ^ "The 20 best albums of 2019". The A.V. Club. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  31. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2019; Staff Picks". Billboard. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  32. ^ "Best Albums of 2019: Top Music Albums of the Year". Complex. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  33. ^ "The 50 best albums of 2019; the full list". The Guardian. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  34. ^ "The 50 best albums of 2019 – from Tyler, the Creator's IGOR to Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising". The Independent. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  35. ^ "The 50 best albums of 2019". NME. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  36. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Pitchfork. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  37. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2019". Rolling Stone. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  38. ^ "10 Best Albums of 2019: Staff Picks". Spin. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  39. ^ Chow, Andrew R.; Bruner, Raisa (27 November 2019). "The 10 Best Albums of 2019". Time. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  40. ^ "Magdalene". HMV.co.jp. Japan. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  41. ^ Magdalene (liner notes). FKA Twigs. London: Young Turks. 2019. YT191.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  42. ^ "Australiancharts.com – FKA Twigs – Magdalene". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  43. ^ "Austriancharts.at – FKA Twigs – Magdalene" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  44. ^ "Ultratop.be – FKA Twigs – Magdalene" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  45. ^ "Ultratop.be – FKA Twigs – Magdalene" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  46. ^ "FKA Twigs Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  47. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – FKA Twigs – Magdalene" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  48. ^ "Top Albums (Week 46, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  49. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – FKA Twigs – Magdalene" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  50. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography FKA Twigs". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  51. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 46 (dal 08.11.2019 al 14.11.2019)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  52. ^ "Oricon Top 50 albums: 2020-11-18". Oricon. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  53. ^ "2019 46-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  54. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  55. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – FKA Twigs – Magdalene". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  56. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  57. ^ "Swisscharts.com – FKA Twigs – Magdalene". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  58. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  59. ^ "FKA Twigs Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  60. ^ "FKA Twigs Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  61. ^ "MAGDALENE". Sandbag. Retrieved 9 September 2019.


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