Magdalene
| FKA Twigs
Magdalene
Magdalene (stylised in all caps) is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter FKA Twigs. It was released on 8 November 2019 by Young Turks. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
With limitlessly innovative songwriting and production, the cinema of twigs’ music has never been more affecting. MAGDALENE is not just on the vanguard of pop, it’s in a breathtaking class of its own.
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Vulture
FKA Twigs Makes Great Art Out of Great Pain on Magdalene.
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NME
An unstoppable force of nature rolls out her enormously ambitious vision.
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Esquire
FKA twigs's Magdalene Is an Overwhelming Depiction of Triumph.
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Residential Advisor
The English artist emerges from life-changing illness and heartbreak with a renewed creative vision.
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The Atlantic
Magdalene, the avant-garde pop star’s triumphant second album, pairs tenderness and noise.
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The Guardian
Inner battles that will stay with you.
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Rolling Stone
UK pop futurist conjures struggle while curating a killer creative team.
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Stereogum
MAGDALENE is: a rapturous in-between, from being wanted to being found.
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Consequence of Sound
The performer undergoes a metamorphosis after emotional and physical trauma.
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KRUI Radio
MAGDALENE was disappointing, but its standout tracks – home with you and fallen alien – are stunning enough to make up for its faults.
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A.P. News
“MAGDALENE,” is not about the ups and downs of love. No, the 9-track set finds twigs solidly in the down-and-out throes of heartache. And the pain is beautiful.
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The Mancunion
MAGDALENE is picturesque and emphatic, pairing assured and confident production with wavering and desperate themes and lyrics.
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New York Times
FKA twigs Is a Creature of Desire on ‘Magdalene’.
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Spill Magazine
An endowed mystical creature, a gentle sensory eargasm, and a wholesome spirit: this is the talented artist FKA twigs.
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The Duke Chronicle
In heartbreak and suffering she attains an other-worldly state, an ex-stasis of holy magnitude, an existence in holy terrain.
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Chicago Tribune
FKA Twigs’ soul-baring ‘Magdalene’ subverts pop, patriarchy.
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Hotpress
Outstanding effort from avant-pop star.
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The Alligator
She’s presented as a canvas in progress, photographed somewhere on the journey to becoming, and that’s exactly what “MAGDALENE” is: a rapturous in-between, from being wanted to being found.
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The Quietus
On her new album MAGDALENE, FKA twigs tempers her ferocity with a radical sensitivity.
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Pop Matters
FKA twigs Elegantly Explores Her Delicate Core on 'Magdalene'.
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Independent
The follow-up to 2014’s LP1, made in the wake of heartbreak, is twigs at her sorrowful, scrappy best.
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All Music
Like the dancer she is, Barnett pushes through pain in pursuit of beauty and truth, and the leaps she makes are breathtaking.
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Slant Magazine
A distinct feminine energy pulses through the singer-songwriter’s shimmering sophomore effort.
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Cherwell
The album is successful, personal, and unique, and represents twigs’ growth as an artist (and in general).
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Treble Zine
At its worst, pop music has a tendency towards a kind of nihilistic, anodyne perfection—at times, it feels like another opiate for the masses. FKA twigs’ new album is anything but.
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Wall Street Journal
After several trying years, the hard-to-classify singer-songwriter returns with a personal and introspective album.
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Crack Magazine
Directly contrasting the cohesion of her previous releases, the veritable tapestry of sounds woven into MAGDALENE is among the album’s most rewarding assets.
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ABC News
FKA twigs outdoes herself on 2nd album ‘MAGDALENE’.
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The Dartmouth
FKA twigs’ 'Magdalene' develops her unique sound.
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The Michigan Daily
The album’s exploration of internal disjunction and its relation to anxiety, fatigue and love is deeply impressive, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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Highsnobiety
FKA twigs Steps Through the Looking Glass on ‘MAGDALENE’.
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Sputnik Music
Her masterpiece.
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Stars and Scars
When it’s all said and done, this album will remain notable not just for its ambitions and innovation but its beautiful and artful rendering of what it truly is to be human. Do yourself a favor and attempt to get lost in it.
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Spectrum Pulse
The project as a whole feels too diffuse and unbalanced to truly knock it out of the park, which is why I'm giving this an extremely strong 7/10 and a recommendation, but not a full-fledged one.
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Music OMH
Magdalene is an album that, like FKA twigs herself, defies both genre and classification. Yet it’s a late contender for album of the year, with songs that will live you for months to come.
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The Student Playlist
A compelling delve into the psyche of FKA twigs as well as an exploration of being human, ‘Magdalene’ is Tahliah Barnett’s second masterpiece.
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Under the Radar Mag
MAGDALENE might not be perfect, but it reverberates with the sound of someone shutting the door on a difficult chapter in their life. The prospect of what's next for Barnett is genuinely exciting.
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Stereoboard
With such variety and passion, ‘Magdalene’ is an endlessly rewarding album that takes the listener on a unique, breathless journey.
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Honey Punch Mag
Arguably this album belongs in a movie—no, scratch that—this album deserves to have its own movie. This is such a sensational piece of art which changed the game.
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Standard
Her extraordinary voice leads us round hairpin bends.
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DIY Mag
When everything aligns, there are true moments of wonder to be found.
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The Daily Free Press
“MAGDALENE” is a masterpiece of biblical proportions.
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Spectrum Culture
Erratic to a point, this is her finest work to date.
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Brown Daily Herald
The album succeeds in finding personal, independent musical catharsis.
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Clash Music
The sound of someone delicately yet decisively knitting themselves back together.
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Best of Sno
FKA Twigs's second album paints emotionally honest pictures of loneliness.
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4 out of 5 Reviews
BETWEEN THE HITS AND MISSES, FKA TWIGS IS STILL A BOMBASTIC VOCAL PRESENCE.
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Vice
'Magdalene', the long-awaited second album from pop's most innovative polymath.
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Northern Transmissions
Never rushed yet often urgent, MAGDALENE is a work of great tension and balance. It never falls into complacency, and it’s never indulgent.
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Audioxide
For all its instances of greatness and undeniable beauty, the record gets tangled in its own aspirations.
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Audioxide
The back to back efforts of “mary magdalene” and “fallen alien” are easily the best moments the record has to offer. They’re bold and powerful songs. Beyond them, I don’t think there’s much to get excited about.
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Audioxide
The sincerity of her delivery and the rawness of such personal lyricism is lost on me while I wait to be reminded why FKA Twigs is a big deal. It’s not bad, but it is disappointing.
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The Face
FKA Twigs’ haunting second studio album features cut glass vocals, production from Nicolas Jaar and playful references from Kate Bush.
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Paste Magazine
In rebuilding herself after heartbreak, the artist has never sounded so human.
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Matt Challenges Music
A work of art.
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VibeRANT
FKA Twigs is a generational talent; the kind of artist who comes around once in a blue moon.
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Attendee
Even at her most abrasive, twigs is incredibly regal.
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The Paper Cut
FKA twigs gives herself up entirely to [her] emotions, making it the most empowering body of work I’ve ever listened to. It is an ode to the sacrifices of Magdalene, and the presence she makes out of complete absence.
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Medium
It’s definitely worth a listen but, after this long a wait, it isn’t quite the definitive artistic statement one would have hoped for from FKA Twigs’ return.
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No Ripcord
MAGDALENE can’t be seen as anything other than a triumph.
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Daily Titan
FKA Twigs’ ‘MAGDALENE’ contemplates divinity by breaking genre boundaries.
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Financial Times
Lyrics are candid and introspective while minimalist rhythms come cloaked in layers of sound.
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The News Letter
FKA twigs’ sophomore album Magdalene defies genre.
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Daily Cal
FKA twigs’ ‘Magdalene’ is tragically beautiful tale of resilience, femininity.
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The Courier Online
MAGDELANE is the second album from the incredible FKA Twigs and with astonishing production and vocals, it’s her greatest work yet.
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Washington Square News
She continues to establish herself as a timeless artist that will transcend beyond our time, like the story of Mary Magdalene.
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Telegram
Art-pop that tells a personal story, proudly going its own way.
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iNews
A dramatic and uncompromising second album.
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NARC Magazine
AN EVOCATIVE AND POIGNANT RELEASE FROM FKA TWIGS.
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Gryphon
FKA twigs Finds Feminine Power on New Album, Magdalene.
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The Times
Forget her personal life — it’s the emotional new music from FKA Twigs that’s most intriguing.
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Irish Times
A rebirth of sorts for this most unpredictable of artists.
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Telegraph
A magnificently twisted album that summons the spirits of Bowie and Björk.
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The Orion
FKA Twigs brings pop from the future on ‘MAGDALENE’.
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The Daily Targum
Pushing pop’s boundaries and conventions with experimental intentions isn’t something that FKA twigs is new to, but her approach has completely changed.
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Livewire1350
Magdalene, much like FKA Twigs, is a difficult album to describe. It verges on concept album but remains firmly a piece of artistry direct from the soul.
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The Fresh Committee
FKA twigs’ less-than-ideal work is worlds more artful than a large percentage of mainstream acts. I simply wish five years of waiting amounted to something more enthralling.
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Mxdwn Music
A sophomore album that checks all the boxes.
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FLOOD Magazine
MAGDALENE dances along without ever dipping into easy catharsis, consumed with pain but unwavering in its determination to fight through it.
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The Needle Drop
For all its impassioned vocal performances and effective updates on the forms of Kate Bush and Björk, Magdalene isn't quite greater than the sum of its parts.
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DJ Booth
We listen to ‘MAGDALENE,’ and we remember everyone we have ever loved, and how easily they stopped loving us.
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Pop Dust
On "Magdalene," FKA twigs Resurrects Herself (and an Old Testament Mystery).
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The Line of Best Fit
MAGDALENE is FKA Twigs’ finest work to date.
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Loud and Quiet
MAGDALENE is as holistically complete as any pop record released this decade.
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Tone Deaf
FKA twigs returns with MAGDALENE, a volatile and vulnerable ode to a broken heart.
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Vinyl Chapters
FKA twigs lets it all out on the plucky, odd and undoubtedly frank long-awaited album MAGDELENE, released through Young Turks.
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NPR
FKA Twigs Learns To Write For Her Voice On 'Magdalene'.
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Bitch Media
Her creative consciousness envisions Magdalene—and other historical women—as radicals who are fully human and self-actualized.
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Brooklyn Vegan
As with most of the best experimental pop, Magdalene‘s daring musical tendencies go down like crushed pills mixed with honey.
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Sound of Brit
For MAGDALENE , her first album in 5 years, FKA twigs delivers a manifesto, unique, sumptuous and unforgettable.
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Exclaim!
In portrait mode, Magdalene tears down the metaphorical walls — aurally, visually, physically — to build back up a wholly realized self.
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The Skinny
By processing the physical and emotional pain she's experienced, FKA twigs’ new album MAGDALENE operates as a purging of all her heartbreak.
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The Fader
Agony and ecstasy.
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Riff Magazine
FKA twigs flirts with the strange.
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GQ Magazine
FKA Twigs has made the best kind of break-up album.
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Sound Opinions
Jim asserts that FKA Twigs has "a personality all her own, commenting on where romance fits in her life [and] where women fit in the world at this moment," adding“it's a really smart, and very gripping record.”
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The Arts Desk
Intensely emotional lyrics matched by experimental production.
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AURA
‘MAGDALENE’ BOASTS BRILLIANT TECHNICAL PRODUCTION AND SOME OF THE BEST LYRICISM OF THE DECADE, BUT WHERE IT FALLS APART LIES WITHIN THE POTENTIAL OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN.
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Mix 247 EDM
Heartfelt ode to feminine pain.
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Spex
We are defenseless to her lyrics.
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News Pads
The heightened aura of languishment at times threatens to overwhelm the listener. But there is an underlying robustness too, evident in the way that "fallen alien" turns sentiments of not belonging ("I was waiting for you on the outside") into a gripping, driven number with hints of the mighty Portishead.
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