| Pendulum | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | FKA Twigs |
| Album: | LP1 |
| A-Side: | Two Weeks |
| Recorded: | 2014 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 4:58 |
| Label: | Young Turks |
| Prev Title: | Two Weeks |
| Prev Year: | 2014 |
| Next Title: | Video Girl |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
"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.[1] Upon its premiere, Twigs referred to the track as "one of my favourite songs on my record."[2]
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."[3]
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."[4] 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."[1]
The music video for "Pendulum" was directed by FKA Twigs herself and premiered on 14 January 2015.[5] A photo from the video set was first released on 29 July 2014, which depicts FKA Twigs hanging from the ceiling by her hair.[6] A second photo from the set was posted to FKA Twigs' Instagram page on 6 October 2014.[7] The video won a MOBO Award for Best Video on 4 November 2015,[8] while earning FKA Twigs a nomination for Artist to Watch at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.[9]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of LP1.[10]
| Region | Date | Format | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 29 July 2014 | 12" single | Young Turks | [11] |
| 30 July 2014 | Digital download | [12] |