Banks
Goddess
Harvest Records – September 9th 2014
By Joshua Khan (@blaremag)
Find it at: iTunes | Insound | Official Store
7.1
Jillian Banks’ debut record is a narcotic in the purest sense. Rather than needle you with every pop element north of Born To Die, the 26-year-old shops her own uppers and downers – tracks that adopt a gloomy vogue aesthetic and turn Goddess into a by-product of soul. It’s heavy on her previous EPs but it’s as reflective as House Of Balloons and Devotion, and Banks’ gutting versatility is the complete opposite of a work-in-progress. If she’s not chopping it up with Shlohmo (“Brain”), staring down love with T.E.E.D. (“Fuck Em We Only Know”), or letting notes fly on a Lil Silva beat (“This Is What It Feels Like”), she’s timing her most vulnerable registers (“Change”, “Someone New”) so they burn, not bruise. The crossovers come in short bursts, but they’re so well constructed and executed that it’s easy for one to be left weak, helpless, and hooked. Even when her strong start could be considered “practice”.
Listen: “Waiting Game”, “Change”, “Someone New”, “Fuck Em We Only Know” || Watch: “Drowning”