FKA twigs

Singer/songwriter/producer/dancer/filmmaker FKA twigs channels her assorted skills into boundary-free art and sound that privileges emotional resonance above stylistic categories. Her voice—fragile on the surface yet spanning multiple octaves thanks to extended classical study—interlocks with melodic lines recalling Kate Bush and Janet Jackson while riding dense rhythms drawn from experimental electronics, industrial textures, and forward-looking R&B. Still, the total effect of her work transcends those ingredients, which is why early projects such as 2013’s EP2 and the following year’s Mercury Prize-nominated LP1 drew praise for balancing fragility with force. She kept testing limits, releasing the introspective Magdalene in 2019, the lighter-toned Caprisongs mixtape in 2022, and the trance-oriented Eusexua in 2025.

Born Tahliah Barnett in Gloucestershire, England, to a half-Jamaican father and a Spanish-English salsa-dancer mother, she spent her childhood amid countryside and was steered toward ballet and opera. Nicknamed Twigs for the audible pops her joints produced, she joined a jazz ensemble at age 13. A scholarship took her to an all-girls Catholic secondary school where, as the sole mixed-race pupil, she often felt alone. By 16 she was composing seriously, absorbing Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, and the post-punk/new-wave energy of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Adam Ant.

At 17 she relocated to London intent on dancing professionally. Appearances in videos for Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Kylie Minogue, and Taio Cruz soon convinced her that music was her true calling. With CY AN and LJ Howe she formed the X-Ray Spex-inspired punk outfit Delirium Tremens, one of whose records—Germ Free Adolescents—remains a favorite. While tending bar she found a manager who introduced her to Mike Chapman, who sharpened her songwriting. In December 2012 she issued the self-released EP1, directing a video for every track.

After adopting the FKA twigs moniker to avoid confusion with twin sisters already using “Twigs,” she returned in September 2013 with EP2, whose Arca productions stood out sharply. Later that year the BBC named her to its Sound of 2014 shortlist, ultimately won by Sam Smith. The EP reached American listeners in May 2014. That June the richer single “Two Weeks” signaled the coming of her debut album, simply titled LP1. Working again with Arca and adding Dev Hynes, Sampha, and Paul Epworth, she also handled a larger share of the production herself. Released in August 2014, LP1 earned widespread acclaim, a Mercury Prize nomination, a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package, and commercial success that placed it at number 16 on the U.K. Albums Chart and number 30 on the Billboard 200.

Subsequent projects folded in her filmmaking and choreography experience. October 2014 brought the Google Glass short #throughglass, which she directed and which contained reworkings of “Video Girl” and “Glass & Patron.” February 2015 saw the premiere of Congregata, an LP1-inspired dance piece. That July she staged the week-long Soundtrack 7 residency at Manchester International Festival, unveiling “Good to Love.” August introduced the M3LL155X EP, featuring Boots and the complete “Glass & Patron”; it reached number 63 on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. “Good to Love” arrived as a single and video in February 2016. July brought three new songs at Moscow’s Lastochka Festival; a filmed Soundtrack 7 followed in August.

FKA twigs appeared on A$AP Rocky’s 2018 album Testing, then issued “Cellophane” in April 2019. Magdalene followed in November, shaped by her 2017 uterine-fibroids surgery, prior relationships, and reflections on Mary Magdalene. Largely self-produced with contributions from Nicolas Jaar, Skrillex, Jack Antonoff, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Benny Blanco, it peaked at number 21 in the U.K. and number 54 on the Billboard 200, again topping the U.S. dance/electronic tally. On release day the film Honey Boy, in which she played Shy Girl, also opened. “Cellophane” earned a 2020 Best Music Video Grammy nomination. That year she joined 645AR’s “Sum Bout U” video, won a U.K. Music Video Award for Best Choreography on “Sad Day,” and continued developing new material.

January 2021 brought the Headie One and Fred Again collaboration “Don’t Judge Me.” Late in the year she released “Measure of a Man” with Central Cee for The King’s Man soundtrack. January 2022 delivered the mixtape Caprisongs, a brighter, more direct collection featuring El Guincho, Koreless, and Arca alongside Pa Salieu, Daniel Caesar, Shygirl, Jorja Smith, and the Weeknd on “Tears in the Club.” It charted at number 42 in the U.K. and number 91 on the Billboard 200. After appearing on Yung Lean’s Stardust, she dropped “Killer” in July 2022 and “Unearth Her” with Koreless in October 2023. She returned to acting in 2024’s The Crow as Shelly. Around the August premiere she previewed Eusexua at a New York listening party and released the title track in September. The album arrived in January 2025, produced with Sasha and Koreless and rooted in the Prague techno scene she encountered while filming The Crow as well as the idea of transcendent euphoria.