MANCHESTER International Festival isn’t usually one to make bold statements about an artist without their full consideration. So when they announced entertainer FKA twigs was to headline this year’s festival, they didn’t hold back with hyperbole: ‘MIF is delighted to present FKA twigs one of the most exciting artists of the last ten years'.
It’s uninhibited, self-consciously avant-garde
For ‘Soundtrack 7’ FKA twigs, a singer, trained dancer, director and visual artist will create seven short films over a seven day residency at Old Granada Studios. Alongside collaborators, the 27-year-old will be hosting the films live. A bold move, indeed. And one that will be tested against this year’s line-up of stellar acts, from Damon Albarn to another otherworldly musician, Bjork.
FKA twigs at Parklife Festival 2015 The show is, for want of a less overused phrase, 'hotly-tipped'. Yet why should the MIF audience be excited about this artist when the line-up is so rich with talent?
In the main because FKA twigs is one of those all-encompassing artists, and stretches herself across all creative mediums: video, music and live-shows. She’s more appropriately considered an entertainer rather than a musician, harking back to the era when Michael Jackson used to rule video and radio – you know, the artists who ‘can’t just sit and sing.’
And it’s her dancing that really gets you.
She has a melting pot of dance styles (contemporary dance, vogueing, krumping and subtle nuances of hip-hop) her body hits and ricochets off her beats with precision. She moves both fluidly and robotically with a sensual and ethereal quality. It’s transfixing. Hypnotic almost.
When watching the performer live, hypnosis is also helped by the music. Much like Bjork, FKA twigs can be pigeon-holed as electronica but tends to transcend many genres. Her most recent studio album ‘LP 1’ is described as ‘ghostly opera’, ‘broken-R&B’, and, somewhat accurately, as ‘if James Blake and Sadé had a baby (and then taught it how to Vogue). Yes, it’s a sound hard to define.
Overall, what you get is a moody, sultry, edgy and darn entertaining watch.
What’s clear, by MIF’s standards, a festival described as 'radical', 'innovative' and ‘important’, FKA twigs fits the bill. The myriad of critical acclamations has helped certify her as a worthy headliner, plus her burgeoning celebrity status as Robert Pattinson’s other half (the broody Vampire from Twilight) has helped bolster the festival's wider appeal -and possibly ticket sales.
But not everyone will get it. And not all will comfortably succumb to the hype surrounding FKA twigs.
Raised in Cheltenham, FKA twigs, started her music career as a dancer before moving into music and performing in those cool, dive clubs in London. It shows. Whether she’s dancing for thousands at Coachella or the BRIT Awards, it still feels as if she’s performing in the underground clubs where she made her name. It’s uninhibited, self-consciously avant-garde.
'It's the dancing that really gets you'
And it’s odd too. Her music can sound disjointed, uncomfortable, and haunting; punctuated with screams, whispers and cracks and pops which sound like branches snapping in deserted forests. Her self-directed visuals can also be hard to digest for the tightly-wound. Take her latest video ‘Glass and Patron’, for instance, it sees FKA twigs giving birth to a scarf before launching into a spirited dance routine. Again, it’s not for everyone. But like most art, the vision and the artist is not always supposed to be entirely understood.
Yet to echo Manchester International Festival’s bold statement, on the ever-churning conveyor belt of brand new artists in modern music, she’s certainly one of the few to shatter the cookie-cutter mould.
Without doubt, FKA twigs is memorable.
For fans of FKA twigs, Manchester International Festival will be an opportunity to witness the star in another capacity, for the entertainer herself it will be chance to legitimise her much-acclaimed artistry.
Find out more about the Manchester Festival Events on our information page.
