FKA twigs makes musical return with Two Shell on ‘Talk to Me’
While in album mode for an upcoming techno-inspired record, the singer hasn't been keeping up with much new music, but recently mentioned that she's found herself drawn to the dance duo Two Shell.
By Larisha Paul
The dance duo Two Shell have been teasing their latest single ‘Talk to Me’ for more than two weeks. On Bandcamp, they’ve been rolling out cryptic renditions of the record, each paired and branded with a different artist. There’s a Frank Ocean version, with the singer’s face emerging from glitchy artwork. There’s a Taylor Swift version, which has a distorted image of her bursting out of a gold treasure chest in outer space. The Chris Martin, PinkPantheress and JungKook versions are similarly chaotic.
But the latest version is the only rendition to receive an official release across streaming services with its official featured artist: FKA twigs. The record, which features an entirely new arrangement and instrumental, marks the first release from the musician since 2022. The cover art similarly features twigs’ face breaking through a nearly indecipherable image, with the members of Two Shell on either side of her.
“Called you just to check you never wanna see me again/I fly high with the hope that you’ll look up/With one chance I just wanna be the one that you love,” twigs confesses over the record’s skittering beat. “Called you just to check you really meant the words that you said/I’m so hurt, embrace myself when I wake up/With one chance I just wanna be the one that you love.”
Earlier this year, twigs began teasing her forthcoming album on Discord. The project was inspired primarily by the move she made to Prague a few summers ago, where she “fell in love with techno.” The musician clarified that “the album isn’t techno but the spirit is there,” adding: “It’s deep but not sad… I’m not sad anymore.”
While in album mode, twigs hasn’t been keeping up with much of the new music landscape, but mentioned that she’s recently found herself drawn to Two Shell. Their collaboration is a leap forward for twigs, who began crafting her next era from scratch after dozens of her demos were leaked by a hacker last October. “I got hacked, somebody leaked 85 of my demos,” she wrote on Instagram Stories at the time. “Well done, no new music for a while now.”