POPDAR: FKA Twigs - Papi Pacify

I would point out the FKA Twigs was formerly known as Twigs, but as you can see, she beat me to the punch.

Twigs' EP1 was a dark and experimental effort - disturbing and unnerving industrial R&B that still managed to be subtly sexy. Her second EP, helpfully titled EP2, concentrates a little more on that final description, with Twigs' voice breathing and floating over a much warmer trip-hoppy ambience on each track.

But on EP highlight "Papi Pacify", the nearest thing to a radio-friendly track Twigs' has produced to date, she allows herself to be more overtly sexual and as a result delivers the most arresting vocal of her output so far.

The track seductively creeps through it's choppy, sparse verses that do very little to accompany Twigs' light and airy vocal, as she clasps at every note as if gasping for air. "Never tell me no" yelps Twigs breathlessly, begging "tell me I'm the one you want" - it feels like she's unleashing two EPs worth of sexual repression. But the real payoff is the exhilarating drop into Weeknd-territory for the *gasp* chorus (!), where Twigs' gleefully unleashes her catchiest hook to date, as a crushing hip hop beat gyrates against a sexually-charged growl of a bass line.

FKA Twigs' EP2 is available to download now from iTunes.

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FOR FANS OF: BANKS, The Weeknd, Etta Bond