Banks
Goddess
September 8 2014 (Good Years / Virgin EMI)
7/10
Words: Alison Mack
The blogging fraternity's own 'goddess', LA R&B artist Jillian Banks, proves on this first full-length outing that she is deserving of the attention she has drawn to herself - at what is still a relatively early point in her career - after posting some songs online at the beginning of last year.
Following two acclaimed EPs, she now delves into more weighty downbeat electronic minimalism with 'Goddess' - a title that may be wondered at when on the Sohn-produced 'Alibi', she pleads, "Please give me something to convince me that I am not a monster," though this is also the one song of the 14 that she did not write herself - although if several of the LP tracks (of which there is a massive 18 on the deluxe edition) sound like you've heard them before, you may well have done as the record incorporates previous singles and her 'London' EP, along with others exclusive to the album.
Banks' fortè lies in the range of fusing splashy synths and hip-hop beats, that work in conjunction with twinkling electronics and provide a backdrop to her vocal range which veers from low timbre to high register, often shrouded in reverb. On
'Waiting Game' her fragility is exposed in a Natasha Khan soundalike way, aided by siren harmonies; the Shlohmo-produced ‘Brain’ ("I can see you struggling/Boy, don't hurt your brain/Thinking what you're gonna say"), one of the album highlights, sees her vocally on time-stopping form in the biting middle section, while stripped back tracks like the acoustic guitar finger-picked 'Someone New' and closer 'Under the Table' relies on its piano notes to strike home.
‘Goddess’ is a polished debut that has ranked up an impressive production cast (which aside from Sohn and Shlohmo, also enlists Al Shux, Jamie Woon and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) and despite its familiarity to her fans, it will not lose Banks her place in the top league of electro neo-noir.
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