"Tears in the Club" (stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

on the album version only) is a song by English singer-songwriter

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

, featuring vocals from Canadian singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

. It was released on 16 December 2021, as the lead single from Twigs' first mixtape, ''

Caprisongs ''Caprisongs'' (stylised in all caps) is the first mixtape by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. It was released on 14 January 2022 through Young and Atlantic Records. The mixtape features guest appearances from Pa Salieu, the Weeknd, Shy ...

'' (2022). The two artists wrote the song with producers

Cirkut Henry Russell Walter (born April 23, 1986), known professionally as Cirkut, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He has co-produced and co-written for Dr. Luke, Katy Perry, Becky G, Ava Max, Nicki Minaj, R. City, The Weeknd, Kesha, Ciar ...

, Arca, and

el Guincho Pablo Díaz-Reixa (born November 17, 1983), professionally known as el Guincho, is a Spanish musician, singer, and record producer. Díaz-Reixa rose to prominence with his 2008 album, ''Alegranza''. His musical style relies heavily on the use ...

, alongside

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song "Youngblood (5 Seconds of S ...

Background and composition

"Tears in the Club" leans towards a more

contemporary pop Pop music is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the ...

sound that strays away from the type of FKA Twigs' regular music, but "maintains the etherealness and

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

for which she's become known". The song has been described as an R&B-pop track, that pairs "a booming dance floor

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

and

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

" with Twigs and the Weeknd belting out lyrics "that are packed with heartache and angst". It interpolates the section of "

@@@@@ "@@@@@" is a DJ mix released as a single by Venezuelan record producer Arca (musician), Arca. The mix premiered on NTS on 19 February 2020. It was officially released on 21 February 2020 via XL Recordings. Background and release On 18 February ...

" known as "Phantasy", composed and performed by Arca. Twigs announced the release date of the single alongside a trailer video on 13 December 2021.

Music video

A music video for the song premiered on 16 December 2021. It was directed by Amber Grace Johnson. The video pays homage to Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's Sprite commercial in the beginning. It starts with FKA Twigs dancing in a nightclub with bright lights. Twigs walks down the street crying and is subsequently picked up by a group of dancers. She is then joined by the Weeknd and performs for him in a fish tank, who watches her in tears.

Charts

References

{{authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs FKA Twigs songs The Weeknd songs Song recordings produced by el Guincho Songs written by the Weeknd Songs written by Cirkut (record producer) Songs written by el Guincho Songs written by Arca (musician) Songs written by Ali Tamposi Song recordings produced by Cirkut (record producer) Young Turks (record label) singles