On Sept. 30, Banks released her highly anticipated sophomore album The Altar. Banks is a phenomenal vocalist, but what makes her music stand out is the way she plays with arrangement and allows there to be space within her songs that really let her message resonate. The Altar continues Banks’ ingenious juxtaposition of pop, hip-hop and electronic music.
“Gemini Feed” introduces us to The Altar with a heavy hip-hop beat and a scalding, engulfing chorus. “Lovesick” is comprised of pleading lyrics that are reflected in vocals that are accompanied by an ominous beat.
Mid-album Banks channels her pent up frustration and comes for the listeners’ throat. In “Mind Games” Banks shatters as she scorns the man who broke her heart. “Trainwreck” has an inventive pop element that plays with a forceful electronic beat, and Banks nearly raps for a couple of bars. This song has the lyrical and vocal abilities of a power anthem. “This is Not About Us” has a springy beat and a distortion on the vocals that make it sound as if Banks is singing through a rain stick.
Banks relaxes during the second half of The Altar. In “Haunt” Banks expresses heartbreak in a subtle, yet potent way. It is clear that she is awfully depressed, but she is not crying into the microphone to express it. “Poltergeist” takes us to a different dimension with a demonic presence. The final song on The Altar is “27 hours.” After an entire album of expressing the emotional turmoil others have caused her, Banks leaves us with a song about how she is also a heartbreaker, reminding us that she is no better than the men she has been singing about.
The Altar is an exceptional sophomore album for Banks, as she continues to entrance with her all-embracing, unique timbres and sonic layout. With this level of creative capacity, Banks will not be silenced anytime soon.
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