by Lauryn Edwards | Mar 14, 2025 | Creative and Cultural Industries, Postgraduate | 0 comments
With the recent rollout of her new album Eusexua, her third studio album which was released this January, FKA Twigs homes in on rave culture and the LGBTQIA+ community surrounding it, challenging the way we interpret our identities, as well as understanding how communities surrounding club and rave spaces can be utilised to induce connectivity. Whilst her previous albums have explored these genres to some extent, this is the first time she has solely focussed on such musical themes.
Between her dance performance at Valentino’s runway in 2023 containing various album songs, the Eusexua raves organised around the UK with queer collectives around the release date, or the various record signings organised by her team, one area of promotion stood out the most: FKA Twigs’ Eusexua Anyma remix and their surprise performance at the Las Vegas Sphere during one of Anyma’s residencies at the venue, which both occurred a month before the release and were intended as a way to create more anticipation for the release of the rest of her album.
When observing Anyma’s rise to fame as a DJ and producer over the years, who’s drawn more influences from the American EDM scene with his melodic house, we can see how dance music has impacted both artists differently. We can therefore also assume the Eusexua remix to be seen as an attempt to attract both of their enormous fanbases, with Anyma bringing more of an EDM fanbase to FKA Twigs’ alt-pop fanbase. Instead, her Instagram ended up littered with comments such as “Worst remix ever :/”, “Cute moment but let’s move on from Anyma” and “Gonna pretend this remix doesn’t exist. I love you!!!” at the top of her post releasing the visualiser for the remix, with them also garnering a high number of likes from other users and fans.
Comments from FKA Twigs’ post of the Visualiser for the Remix, Taken by me on 12/02/2025
Such responses highlight the lack of connection between her fanbase and the sound that the remix embodies. This marketing oversight could be detrimental to the creative authenticity that FKA Twigs’ fans and followers have labelled FKA Twigs with, instead highlighting what Bridson et al (2017) argue is the capitalist tendencies that artists like her must follow to retain their artistic status in today’s creative landscape. This example illustrates the importance of authenticity and organic moments in the marketing and branding of music artists. It ensures that a specific identity or vision is followed when releasing a new album, whilst simultaneously tackling specific concepts, such as feelings of acceptance found within club spaces.
Most of the production on FKA Twigs’ album was done by more underground artists and producers such as Two Shell, Koreless, and Eartheater. These influences are heard within various songs of the album, with UK genres such as jungle samples being heard at the latter end of “Striptease”, or the 90’s Trip-hop sound found within the song “Girl Feels Good” which as a genre also stems from the mix of hip hop and Soundsystem culture in Bristol during from the late 80’s, with chart-topping artists Massive Attack and Portishead pioneering the movement. Instead, this rich history of UK electronic and dance music is traded in for a more glossy, airbrushed sound that focuses more on specific drops for big room rave spaces or arenas where Anyma performs. This failure to follow the creative narratives and emotions that FKA Twigs tries to invoke shows how the remix hinders her authentic branding as it completely goes against the intimate club spaces that FKA Twigs champions within her album.
This clash between the variations of dance music within the remix shows her straying away from the coherency of her identity that’s attached to the Eusexua album, in turn alienating her current audience’s identification with different dance music genres. We can, therefore, see a failure of what Leslie Meier defines as FKA Twigs’ “affinity transfer” which relates to the strength of the links between FKA Twigs, her music, and her fans. These links can be seen to be weaker in the context of the release of the remix as the product went against the brand and identity that her fanbase had connected to.
The remix also symbolises a contradictory identity within EDM today, as the big room sound and production that Anyma’s shows embody have directly endangered the smaller grassroots club spaces that FKA Twigs identifies with. This results from electronic artists and their fans continuing to favour new, large-scale, multi-purpose venues for their performances, which are more expensive for both the organisers and the audience, threatening the accessibility of club and rave events for the majority of the population. This is further exemplified by FKA Twigs’ appearance at Anyma’s Las Vegas Sphere performance, which, while impressive as a show, still fails to benefit grassroots club spaces that have faced closure since the Covid-19 pandemic due to rising costs and a decrease in the number of people who go clubbing today. Such appearances by FKA Twigs directly contradict her vision and identity within the album, highlighting her failure to focus on authenticity in her marketing, creating a sense of alienation and disconnect between her and her fans.
When comparing FKA Twigs’ marketing of the remix to other artists use of marketing to garner an authentic brand image for themselves, individuals such as Charli XCX and her Brat album come to mind, with her surprise pop-up appearance on the release of her album at the Lexington and focus on club culture mirroring what FKA Twigs has explored in her vision for Eusexua. The big difference between both artists is Charli’s way of embodying such attitudes, focusing on more mainstream club culture by debuting much of her music through two DJ sets with Boiler Room, the DJ archive platform and events organisation, or the various PARTYGIRL events at Glastonbury and other festivals throughout 2024. This clear understanding by her team of trending ideas and platforms that could capture the authenticity and brashness Charli XCX tried to convey presents a unified and clear identity that her fans have been aware of even before her album release. This is crudely contrasted to FKA Twigs’ appearance at the sphere and her remix with Anyma, creating a surprising yet uncharacteristic performance that hinders the rest of her vision and authenticity.
While this blog has recognised how FKA Twigs’ alienating release of the Anyma remix of Eusexua caused friction to the identity that she has conveyed, her fanbase remains highly devout to her sound. This is largely a result of artist audiences having a better understanding of the need to branch out or alter their sound to one that is more popular to gain endorsements and funding to allow freedom for artistic expression that the audience is more familiar with. On top of this, the remainder of her album release events and signings have also continued to show a clear link between her and her fans, minimising the detachment between the Anyma remix and her fans. With this in mind, although the remix remains a minimal detractor from the rest of FKA Twigs’ identity, it remains an effective study of the importance of authenticity to an artist’s vision within music marketing, especially concerning the retaining of a fanbase which could be detrimental to smaller or grassroots artists.
Written by Sylvester Mulji Creative and Cultural industries MA student
My name is Sylvester Mulji. I am a current Creative and Cultural Industries Master’s student who has lived in Manchester for 4 years. I have always been interested in music, using it as a way to express myself and have become more engrossed with questions relating to the protection of grassroots spaces and retaining creativity in the face of commodification. I have also devoted myself to the curation of music, as I have been a DJ for the last 6 years, with my general interest relating to EDM spaces and the communities within them. I hope to continue pursuing such interests as I go into my professional life.
Bibliography
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