FKA twigs "Cheap Hotel"
I think FKA twigs' "EUSEXUA" and "EUSEXUA Aftergrow" are among the best albums released in '25.
The latter album feels like an afterglow or a sub-scenario to the former in terms of its positioning, and while the former is likely more critically acclaimed, I personally love the spirit of "Aftergrow"—it's not easy-listening chill music, but rather something deeply experimental at its core, yet it doesn't strike with a single fatal blow; it has a carefree and playful spirit.
I translated only the song "Cheap Hotel" from "Aftergrow." I've always been interested in works themed around hotels. How are cheap hotels depicted by top artists these days?
Are you coming on your own?
Are you coming on your own?
Do you wanna bring a friend?
Do you wanna bring a friend?
(Hook)
To the cheap hotel right behind the club
To the cheap hotel right behind the club
In room twenty or twenty four, call me when you’re outside
In room twenty or twenty four, call me when you’re outside
With some friends of mine, endless summertime
With some friends of mine, endless summertime
At a mini bar, bring your credit card, we’ll go all night
At a mini bar, bring your credit card, we’ll go all night
We’ll go all night
We’ll go all night
We’ll go all night
We’ll go all night
I don’t wanna go home
I don’t wanna go home
(Hook)
Come meet me
Come meet me
All the way down
All the way down
Find me
Find me
All the way down
All the way down
(Hook)
Food and drink all night, company is nice
Food and drink all night, company is nice
Fuji, twist of lime, it’s my favourite flavour from the drug store
Fuji, twist of lime, it’s my favourite flavour from the drug store
Lying on the floor at the cheap hotel
Lying on the floor at the cheap hotel
With some friends of mine, getting high, we’ll be going all night
With some friends of mine, getting high, we’ll be going all night
Looking at the lyrics, the "cheap hotel" is depicted as a temporary escape from home, a place for disposable intimacy, nameless relationships, inverted day-night cycles, and a lack of future. I think it's quite a classic depiction. (After all, it's a hotel "behind the club".)
At the same time, there is no clear narrative arc, no direct drama, and no emotional highs or lows. So, it doesn't allow for easy takeaways, like a story about a woman being hurt. The mood and depiction of the hotel are classic, but it's not a classic story.
It's good that words like cheap hotel, mini bar, credit card, and drug store feel empty, ephemeral, and consumerist. These are supposed to be infrastructure that provides the safety, security, cleanliness, and comfort that modern society should fulfill, but one realizes that they are just short-sighted, convenient consumerism.
It's cheap, it has no future, and it's short-sighted consumerism, but I don't deny it in the sense that it fills the feeling of "not wanting to go home," "not wanting to be alone," or "not wanting to sleep." It's fine as a temporary place to be.
A cheap hotel doesn't really serve as a replacement for home, nor does it build a future, but it is a place where you can temporarily park yourself. For example, there's that feeling of how "it's comforting to stay in a business hotel for no reason."
Through very beautiful sound, this song made me realize those qualities of a hotel. If you were to reflect this music, which expresses this hollow beauty without a future, into a space, what would that look like? I feel like it would end up being a cool urban business hotel.
By the way, the mood I read from the lyrics is as described above, but this song also has a music video. It's a concept movie that makes me feel embarrassed for having such a conventional interpretation, and the ending is so funny that you should definitely watch it.