Pendulum (song)
{{short description|2014 song by FKA Twigs}}
{{for|other songs|Pendulum (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Pendulum
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = FKA Twigs
| album = LP1
| A-side = Two Weeks
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|2014|7|29}}
| recorded = 2014
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 4:58
| label = Young Turks
| writer = {{hlist|FKA Twigs|Paul Epworth}}
| producer = {{hlist|Paul Epworth|FKA Twigs}}
| prev_title = Two Weeks
| prev_year = 2014
| next_title = Video Girl
| next_year = 2014
| misc = {{external music video|{{YouTube|O8yix8PZKlw|"Pendulum"}}}}
}}
"Pendulum" is a song by English singer FKA Twigs from her debut studio album, LP1 (2014). The song was released digitally on 30 July 2014 as the album's second single. It was also released on 12-inch vinyl the day before, serving as the B-side to "Two Weeks". "Pendulum" premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 29 July 2014.{{cite web |last=Coplan |first=Chris |url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/07/listen-fka-twigs-new-song-pendulum/ |title=Listen: FKA Twigs' new song "Pendulum" |publisher=Consequence of Sound |date=29 July 2014 |accessdate=2 August 2014}} Upon its premiere, Twigs referred to the track as "one of my favourite songs on my record."{{cite web |author=FKA Twigs |url=https://twitter.com/FKAtwigs/status/494123729895837696 |title=proud to share pendulum with... |publisher=Twitter |date=29 July 2014 |accessdate=2 August 2014}}
Critical reception
Upon its release, "Pendulum" received acclaim from music critics, who noted its complex production and Twigs's vocals. Patric Fallon of Pitchfork selected it as "Best New Track", writing that "[n]ot since last year's bewitching 'Water Me' [...] has the London singer released a single as dedicated to nuance and will-o'-the-wisp sublimity as [...] 'Pendulum'." However, Fallon also noted the differences between the two tracks, stating: "Where 'Water Me' and 'Pendulum' diverge in their style and substance is in the latter's resounding chorus and bridge, when the music's detached and capricious elements finally converge into a hook that plays like a hymn to the patron saint of melancholic desire."{{cite web |last=Fallon |first=Patric |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/17014-twigs-pendulum/ |title=FKA twigs: "Pendulum" |publisher=Pitchfork |date=30 July 2014 |accessdate=2 August 2014}}
Brenna Ehrlich of MTV News called the track "a spare kind of thing hung with pattering drums—laid over a deeper, thrumming heartbeat—and laced with her ethereal, overlapping vocals."{{cite web |last=Ehrlich |first=Brenna |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1883541/fka-twigs-pendulum/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809195818/http://www.mtv.com/news/1883541/fka-twigs-pendulum/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 9, 2014 |title=FKA Twigs Gets Soft And Mournful On 'Pendulum' |publisher=MTV News |date=30 July 2014 |accessdate=2 August 2014}} Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound was also laudatory, commenting: "Even as the somewhat jarring sounds threaten to consume every drop of your attention, it's damn near impossible to avoid the emotional spell Twigs weaves with each and every revelatory note."
Music video
The music video for "Pendulum" was directed by FKA Twigs herself and premiered on 14 January 2015.{{cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/56194-fka-twigs-gets-tied-up-in-pendulum-video/ |title=FKA twigs Gets Tied Up in "Pendulum" Video |publisher=Pitchfork |date=14 January 2015 |accessdate=15 August 2016}} A photo from the video set was first released on 29 July 2014, which depicts FKA Twigs hanging from the ceiling by her hair.{{cite web |last=Beauchemin |first=Molly |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/56057-fka-twigs-shares-new-song-pendulum/ |title=FKA twigs Shares New Song "Pendulum" |publisher=Pitchfork |date=29 July 2014 |accessdate=28 August 2014}} A second photo from the set was posted to FKA Twigs' Instagram page on 6 October 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/t0UOdFC-jE/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/fkatwigs/825373585941719236 |archive-date=2021-12-25 |url-access=registration|title=skins |publisher=Instagram |date=6 October 2014 |accessdate=15 August 2016}}{{cbignore}} The video won a MOBO Award for Best Video on 4 November 2015,{{cite web |last=Camp |first=Zoe |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/61954-fka-twigs-performs-figure-8-and-in-time-at-mobo-awards/ |title=FKA twigs Performs "Figure 8" and "In Time" at MOBO Awards |publisher=Pitchfork |date=4 November 2015 |accessdate=15 August 2016}} while earning FKA Twigs a nomination for Artist to Watch at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.{{cite web |last=Huerta |first=Heidi |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2255513/2015-mtv-vmas-winners-list/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831093055/http://www.mtv.com/news/2255513/2015-mtv-vmas-winners-list/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 31, 2015 |title=2015 MTV VMAs: See The Full Winners List |publisher=MTV News |date=30 August 2015 |accessdate=15 August 2016}}
Track listings
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of LP1.{{cite AV media notes |title=LP1 |type=CD liner notes |others=FKA Twigs |publisher=Young Turks |year=2014 |id=YTCD118}}
- FKA Twigs – vocals, drums, keyboards, production, songwriting
- Cy An – additional drum edits, keyboards
- John Davis – mastering
- Paul Epworth – drums, guitar, keyboards, piano, production, songwriting
- Joseph Hartwell Jones – engineering
Release history
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| scope="col"| Region
! scope="col"| Date ! scope="col"| Format ! scope="col"| Label ! scope="col"| {{abbr|Ref.|References}} |
|---|
| scope="row" rowspan="2"|United Kingdom
| 29 July 2014 | rowspan="2"| Young Turks | align="center"| {{cite web |url=http://theyoungturks.co.uk/catalogue/view/two-weeks-pendulum |title=YT123 – FKA twigs – Two Weeks / Pendulum |publisher=Young Turks |accessdate=28 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206001758/http://theyoungturks.co.uk/catalogue/view/two-weeks-pendulum |archive-date=6 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} |
| 30 July 2014
| align="center"| {{cite web |url=http://www.7digital.com/artist/fka-twigs/release/pendulum |title=Pendulum (2014) {{!}} FKA twigs |publisher=7digital (UK) |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903105229/http://www.7digital.com/artist/fka-twigs/release/pendulum |archivedate=3 September 2014 |accessdate=28 August 2014}} |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{FKA twigs}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Paul Epworth
Category:Songs about loneliness
Category:Songs written by Paul Epworth