Magdalene

## ***MAGDALENE***Studio album by FKA twigs

### Studio

Electric Lady (New York City) • Private (Los Angeles and United Kingdom) • Sound Factory (Los Angeles) • XL (New York City)

### Producer(s)

Benny Blanco • Daniel Lopatin • FKA twigs • Jack Antonoff • Jeff Kleinman • Koreless • Michael Uzowuru • Nicolás Jaar • Noah Goldstein • Skrillex

## Singles

1. "cellophane"
Released: April 24th 2019
2. "holy terrain"
Released: September 9th 2019
3. "home with you"
Released: October 7th 2019
4. "sad day"
Released: November 4th 2019

***Magdalene*** (stylized in all caps as ***MAGDALENE***) is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter FKA twigs. It was released on November 8th 2019 through Young and marks her first project since her EP *M3LL155X*, released in 2015, and first full-length record since *LP1* (2014). 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.

Four singles preceded the album's release: "cellophane", "holy terrain" featuring American rapper Future, "home with you", and "sad day" were released on April 24th, September 9th, October 7th, and November 4th, respectively. The album was supported by the Magdalene Tour. Upon its release, the album received widespread critical acclaim from music critics.

## Background

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

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"
>
>

## Musical style

*Magdalene* has been described as "[defying] both genre and classification", and features elements of art pop, pop, electronic, avant-garde, R&B, trap, hip hop, trip hop, alt-pop, punk rock, industrial, opera, chamber pop, and Bulgarian folk.

## Promotion

### **Singles**

The lead single "Cellophane" was released on April 24, 2019. The second single "holy terrain" featuring American rapper Future was released on September 9, 2019. "home with you" was released on October 7, 2019 after the album's release date was pushed from October 25, 2019 to November 8, 2019. "sad day" was released on November 4, 2019.

### **Tour**

> *Main article: Magadalene Tour*
>
>

For the *Magdalene* album tour, FKA Twigs learned pole dancing and wushu.

## Critical reception

*Magdalene* was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 88, based on 28 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

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." 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." *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." 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." *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." *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."

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." 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." *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". In a mixed review, *The Guardian*'s Alexis Petridis stated: "Sometimes the results are stunning ... Sometimes, however, the songs are weirdly stifling."

**Cut Songs**

* anarchy
* body on the ceiling
* coda
* echo park
* guilty
* heavy states
* holy terrain (solo demo)
* icaurs
* la monday
* midnight blue
* miss me
* postmortem lullaby
* psalms
* puppy
* rhythm 2 life
* stay inside me
* to find a man
* together all
* two mind step

## Track-listing

***MAGDALENE*** **(Japanese bonus track)**

## Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

### **Musicians**

* FKA Twigs – vocals, Tempest (1, 3), drums (5, 7, 8), voice synth (5), additional programming (8)
* Ethan P. Flynn – piano (2, 6), clarinet (2, 6), keyboards (2, 7)
* Cy An – keyboards (2), programming (2, 6), drums (2, 6), guitar (6, 7), percussion loop (6)
* Noah Goldstein – programming (2), drums (2, 3, 5)
* Nicolas Jaar – programming (2, 6, 9), synths (3), drums (3, 5–7), piano (5), additional percussion (9)
* Koreless – synths (3, 7), synth strings (3), keyboards (4), programming (4), drums (5)
* Benny Blanco – synths (3), drums (3, 5)
* Hudson Mohawke – drums (3)
* Skrillex – drums (3, 4), programming (4)
* Future – vocals (4)
* Jack Antonoff – keyboards (4), drums (4), programming (4)
* Sounwave – drums (4), programming (4)
* Arca – vocal processing (4), synth programming (4)
* Andrés Osorio – guitar (5)
* Rick Nowels – synths (7)
* Motion Graphics – additional programming (8), woodwind programming (8), samples (8)
* Alex Epton – drums (8)
* Jeff Kleinman – piano (9), synths (9)
* Michael Uzowuru – drums (9), vocal percussion (9)
* Rob Moose – strings (9)

### **Technical**

* Michael Peterson – engineering
* Noah Goldstein – engineering (2, 3, 5, 9)
* Lee Avant – engineering
* Dean Reid – engineering
* Rick Nowels – engineering
* Alex Epton – engineering
* John Foyle – engineering, vocal recording (8)
* Laura Sisk – engineering (4)
* Jon Sher – assistant engineering (4)
* Tate McDowell – assistant engineering (4)
* Chris Wang – additional engineering (8)
* Manny Marroquin – mixing (1–3, 5–9)
* Nicolas Jaar – mixing (1)
* Skrillex – mixing (4)
* Chris Galland – mix engineering (1–3, 5–9)
* Robin Florent – mix assistance (1–3, 5–9)
* Scott Desmarais – mix assistance (1–3, 5–9)
* Joe LaPorta – mastering

### **Artwork**

* Matthew Stone – artwork
* Matthew Josephs – creative direction
* Brodie Kaman – design