FKA Twigs' song "Home With You" from her 2019 album MAGDALENE is a powerful and multilayered piece both sonically and thematically. Both the studio version and live performance use vocal and instrumental elements that build in tension and intensity before releasing into a cacophony of experimental sound; leaving the listener suspended in anticipation with little to no sign of what they might hear next.
For this project, I wanted to include the perspective of someone who engages with music and listeners on a daily, practical level. My interviewee, Nick V., a longtime employee at Wax Trax with an academic background in music and music journalism, offers a unique perspective on FKA Twigs' live performance, noting that what grabbed him was the way that, “[The performance] began with her just singing with a soft voice and tone, then the piano comes in with strings and drone and [the] sustained instruments they incorporated later. Her voice carried the whole thing and got very powerful towards the end.” — Nick V. This build-up is apparent in both live performances and the studio recordings, where Twigs begins with piano contrasted with metallic grinding sounds sandwiching heavy bass and an ultimate polyphony of piano, clarinet and strings ending with sustained notes as Twigs repeats lines from the chorus before confessing "I never told you I was lonely too."
In the performance examined for this analysis, Twigs at first stands alone surrounded by darkness spotlighted by a bright white light that turns red before the first line of the chorus, where she sings, "I didn't know that you were lonely." Nick V. notes about the theatrics and choreography: “[Twigs had a] strong stage presence. The way she walked and moved across the stage created so much anticipation and the feeling of 'What's going to happen next?' And then, curtains behind her raise revealing masked backup dancers before the second verse.”
Nick states: “When [dancers] came onstage with her, they had cool masks on and revealed more layers of masks underneath [which] goes along with helping build the song and performance as a whole.” The dancers' masks are circus-like, and they dance fluid-like while mixing and combining to make creatures with multiple heads and limbs behind her as she sings and the audience erupts in cheers.
The song is a vulnerable track that details the singer's personal issues with health, coping with the responsibility of her power and visibility and trying to balance the demands of her career and the needs of her loved ones. The album title MAGDALENE is a biblical reference to Mary Magdalene as an example of a woman who selflessly helped others and a metaphor for the emotional labor that women give in personal relationships. However, Nick V. notes the song has, “A deep sense of longing for something you want… I wouldn't say it's a sad song… parts of it could be a little sad or emotional but in some ways it's a little optimistic too.” In the end of the song, the confession of vulnerability could be interpreted as Twigs finally coming home.