Although FKA Twigs already showed us the inherently trippy, dystopian nature of office life in the video for “Eusexua,” she’s opted to revisit the same material in the accompanying visual for her third “offering” (following “Perfect Stranger”) from the forthcoming (and highly anticipated) Eusexua album, “Drums of Death.” Listeners will of course recognize the song as the intro to the Jordan Hemingway-directed “Eusexua,” along with the same “chair choreo” that warrants the parenthetical title of the video being: “(choreography glitch).”
And yes, there is something very glitch-y indeed about the sound and feel of “Drums of Death,” all disjointed rhythms (produced solely by Koreless, who also co-produced “Eusexua”) and vocals that are enough to induce an anxiety attack among the highly sensitive (and maybe even the “regular” sensitive). Of course, the office world is no place for such ilk anyway. What with its variety of machine-generated buzzings and hummings constantly droning on in the background—not to mention the barrage of demanding/annoying co-workers incessantly messaging/emailing/actually showing up at one’s desk.
While “Eusexua” briefly explored the latter facet when Twigs’ supervisor materialized at her “work station” to tell her about a new inter-office communications system, “Drums of Death” is all about focusing on the moments after Twigs receives the call that hypnotizes her into a state of eusexua (that particular scene is one of the few that doesn’t get replayed again in this video). A state described as “the pinnacle of human experience” (a.k.a. everything that working in an office is not—hence, the irony of this setting). And a state that makes her and her co-workers go absolutely apeshit in a choreographic manner perhaps not seen since Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video.
But rather than only showing the same exact scenes of Twigs and company (all accordingly outfitted in hyper-professional “office attire”) “glitching out” in their neatly lined-up office chairs, Hemingway reveals some other previously unseen “vignettes” from the office that weren’t showcased in “Eusexua.” For example, one co-worker at his desk typing to the malfunction-y beat before frantically tapping his computer screen as though trying to make it work, then stapling some papers and answering/subsequently hanging up his desk phone—all in tune with the jarring, repetitive rhythm.
In some respects, Twigs must surely be making a commentary on the stressful nature of working within the corporate world—pressures that are often entirely abstract/made up/generally stupid. Having avoided that realm herself, it doesn’t mean that Twigs, as a music industry titan, hasn’t come up against her fair share of soul-crushing and -sucking suits (pretty much every successful female musician has). Ergo, it appears to come naturally to her to recreate such an environment. Albeit filled with the type of people who don’t want to be in that world, but merely found themselves trapped there for one reason or another (mainly, the need for money).
Thus, to miraculously experience “eusexua” in such a stodgy workplace appears to be something that no one—least of all Twigs—is willing to let go of now that they’ve been “enlivened” again. Reanimated from the dead, as it were. And part of this liberation leads to, in one moment, wearing clothes, and the next, not so much, with all the employees stripped down to their skivvies. After all, Twigs does commence the song with the lyrical command, “Listen up, girl/Drop your skirt to the floor/Tear your clothes/Body torn.
And, in addition to shedding their clothes like shedding a (corporate) skin, the most noticeable unique scene in this video compared to what’s shown in “Eusexua” is the moment when everyone starts shaving their heads. In “Eusexua,” there was simply a “cut to” instant when Twigs was suddenly sporting her now signature half-shaved head. But the others’ shaving of their heads makes it seem less non sequitur when Twigs suddenly pops up half-bald, half-sporting dreadlocks.
As for another clear reason that Twigs would want to wield this track in an office setting, well, consider the lyrics, “Hello, it’s your life/Do you want to meet later?/Relax and ease your mind/‘Cause you work so much.” Even if many office workers are aware that much of office work centers on pretending to be busy. Which is part of why it’s easy to slip into a kind of atrophy that makes one forget they’re alive at all. Hence, Twigs also urging her proverbial co-workers (and listeners), “Devour the entire world/Fuck it, make it yours.” In other words: Awaken, you complacent fucks!
The final scene of “Eusexua” might have shown Twigs back in office attire fleeing the building as her other co-workers remained in feral chaos, but “Drums of Death” concludes with all of them still “glitching” in their underwear while perched on office chairs. As this happens, Twigs leaves her listeners with a few final words of advice: “Crash the system, diva doll/Serve cunt/Serve violence.” In short, wake up from the comatose, office worker-like state you’ve been in and replace it with eusexua.
