Have you heard of BANKS? I’m not talking the place your money sits, we’re talking Jillian Rose Banks, American singer & songwriter, 26, knows what’s up.
You need her in your life. And I’m going to tell you why.
I hate making comparisons when talking about music, and I kind of feel embarrassed as I know artists wouldn’t like being compared to each other either (and people going around saying “they’re not quite Foo Fighters, but imagine that mixed with The Kooks”)… Not that I know them or ever would, so I’m not sure why I would personally feel embarrassed. Anyway, I just want to make it easy for people to get into music (as I’m sick of people giving fake reviews of things “Oh it’s amazing, the best thing ever” when really, it was just good, at that moment)
So anyway, you’ve heard and you like Lorde, you like Lana Del Rey (if not, why haven’t you listened to Born To Die yet??!), even going back a bit, you like Fiona Apple and because I want to, let’s put Frank Ocean in here too if we’re comparing (because he’s definitely in this category for me. Just disregard the fact he is a male artist so different voice, but same vibe. And while we’re here, new album asap please Mr Ocean)…
BANKS is your next, new discovery. Your next “shit I’m glad I have this in my life, why did I not know about this earlier” thing to find. Something you’d actually buy on vinyl and play over and over again.
It’s music that belongs loud in your car, when you’re alone, and driving through dark city streets at 10pm with street lights above beaming a second or so of moving light in through your windows, splashing and travelling over your dashboard and escaping as quickly as they came as you pass them by.
It’s music that belongs in your headphones, intoxicating you, it’s just for you, at 2am, when you’re still up and only one small lamp is on in the corner of your lounge and you’ve been in the same spot the past 3 hours sipping peppermint tea.
It’s music I’d imagine I’d listen to on a train – on a long journey between cities on a cloudy overcast day, rain lightly spitting against the windows you’re staring blankly out of as if you’re in a music video; And everyone around you is rugged up, eyes buried in books and not saying a word.
Why am I stating pretentious sounding scenarios to listen to an album in? It’s just music. But it’s an album, (her debut, BANKS Goddess), that has stuck on me since it came out and isn’t getting tired. Even before it came out, from the hints of her debut stuff online… I knew we’d have something special to look forward to. It’s an album that has grabbed me and taken me in to it’s embrace (I know this sounds like a writing wankfest and a little deep, but it’s done that) and has become just mine. Like a nice little secret pleasure that I don’t want to share. It’s that good.
Sluggish beats and warm yet softly cooling, smokey vocals sitting in bed together so perfectly, in freshly-washed Egyptian cotton sheets that have a high thread count, but then in a moment those sheets are all over the bed, screwed around and your leg is caught in them, you’re still comfortable but everything has changed. Words are randomly yelled and then sung so light they nearly whisper, vocal parts used as loops and then never again, peaks and troughs in instrumentation that make you think “OK… this is interesting” and then they just quickly become so perfect. Piano coupled with beats and layers of vocals. Lyrics written in the way you think in your head, not obscure and pretentious for the sake of it – they are scenes from your life, what you were thinking in your last (shit) relationship. They are what you’re thinking now about your last txt you sent and all the subtext behind it that you wish you still weren’t sending a certain person, acting like you’re still a fucking confused 19-year-old again.
And these songs and words are delivered like a page from a book, they just happen, it’s like finding (on your own) an amazing photographer’s account on Instagram and just casually scrolling through their style and eye for everything, and it’s amazing, and it just happens seamlessly and you know it’s good, but it doesn’t yell at you telling you how great it is.
It’s not slathered with A list celebrities or pretentious hipsters, it just does what it does. There’s no bombastic pop hit here, no bold statement… It’s just somebody laying down thoughts and a stream of consciousness (an “inner monologue” as my old acting teacher would say) on dripping beats. The subjects and one sided conversations that are narratives in the songs sound like they’re based off bad experiences, but now to the listener someone else’s scraps of a relationship feel so good.
They tell you you’re not crazy, because they happened to someone else, but you are also there too, cause it happened to you in your life too along the way. “And sometimes I don’t got a filter, but i’m so tired of eating all my mispoken words”, “Cut me to pieces, while you watched me disintegrate, cause you like to tell me how you hate, all the ways i’m not enough for you”, “Please give me something to convince me, that I, am not a monster”.
BANKS is the whole package. The voice, the lyrics, the music. It’s just all on point. She knows what’s up.
BANKS played Auckland last week, her first NZ show at Laneway in Auckland. She flew all that amazing energy over to our shores to grace us with it’s live version. I love Laneway, it’s interesting selection of upcoming and on the cusp of big things artists and its venue at Auckland’s Silo Park, with the city skyline, and the water and marina full of super yachts I couldn’t even afford to charter let alone own.
And this is where BANKS had her debut, tucked behind a silo on a very hot Auckland day. The crowd trickled in… a solid fan base holding down the best spots. Luckily for us, the audience area is on a very slight hill so the back was the better place to be. Lorde thought so too, the wavy haired (and of course as we all know, amazingly talented and super nice) local pop star took up her perch a couple of people behind us, tucked behind technical gear and under the shade.
BANKS was greeted to a very warm reception to match the weather and commented (like I mentioned earlier about how her music fits nicely with the night) “This is very new to me… outside performing in the light… I’m used to the darkness”. She erupted in to one of her big tracks from the album (I wish I could remember, but I’m almost certain I had mild sun stroke at the time), and this really got the crowd going, swaying and singing along.
Unfortunately her first NZ set was tainted by average sound (which I won’t elaborate on as I don’t want that to be the thing we think about when it comes to her). When I forgot about that and got glimpses of what I came to hear and see… we were graced with the presence and raw talent of a woman who lived and breathed her music. She belted out those vocals we all there knew so well, just effortlessly. Even despite the challenges of the sound issues, she wasn’t just going along with it, but trying to overcome it and just kept going, belting out over top of the (too loud) backing track.
Then at one point took to the keyboard and did a solo effort that just floated through the hot air and around us making it all feel like we weren’t squished together like sardines, but instead alone with such amazing, raw talent. And like Lorde’s dancing (or more physical translation of her music, which I really like btw – that AMAs performance, all the yesss), BANKS too has her own thing going on. Flappy arms is what I liked to call it during that show, she just let down her arms like she would (I imagine) her hair and just let them flop around to her music… like they were part of one of the instruments, or like the music was a part of her body, the very blood running through her veins.
Then came what looked like the runway walk… she pleasantly confused me, I thought she was walking towards us, face and stare fixed to the back of the crowd, but she was just in one spot doing this great walk thing that just matched the music and her sense of style so perfectly, she embodied the sound of BANKS.
And within a quick 45 or so minutes, she was gone. Escaping down the side of the stage towards the boats in the background and out of sight. But not before telling us how much she loved it here, “I went out for a run this morning, your country is so beautiful”. I wish she had of debuted at Laneway on one of the main stages instead though, later in the day too, and with better sound. But we take what we can get in this life and hope for next time. A co-worker said they saw her live in a theater in Texas last year and was blown away, they said they even missed her set at Laneway on purpose, just because they didn’t want to ruin that memory of how good it was.
I left Silo Park that night being happy I saw her live (i’d been waiting eagerly for this day ever since she was announced on the lineup, along too with the other acts I was hanging out for – FKA Twigs, Jungle, Sohn, Little Dragon and Royal Blood) but also a little disappointed the sound wasn’t perfect. But that only made me appreciate, even more, how good her album is.
And with that, I thought that was the end of my encounters with BANKS live, well for now anyway.
Then a couple of (hot) days went past, and I was surprised to get an invite from her record company to see BANKS perform a small, special, intimate and acoustic set at Red Bull studios in Ponsonby after work. I didn’t even know she was still in the country. And wow, did it all just make up for the Laneway set (sorry, I’m trying not to paint this whole Laneway thing as a whine or a really bad experience… as it wasn’t, far from it, but we’ve all been to a show where sound is a little off and it’s a bit of a let down if you’re a fan… ANYWAY…) if you thought BANKS with beats behind her was amazing. Strip them back, to just a simple acoustic set up and you will experience chilling amazingness.
And that’s exactly what around 100 of us very lucky people in that room got to witness that night. Again, Lorde must be a big fan as she and boyfriend James were there, Broods were also present as well as upcoming local (and one you should definitely check out), Chelsea Jade (Search and listen to the single ‘Night Swimmer’).
It was a few songs of just pure, acoustic awesomeness. That signature voice cut through the walls and left remnants floating and lingering like a “is this real? did that just happen?” moment. ‘Brain’ being a stand out, with acoustic screams of lines among softly sung verses. No one said a word. No one had their phones out. Everyone forgot they were hanging with the industry cool kids for 15 minutes and just got lost. A brief respite from a balmy Auckland night. And one to remember for awhile.
Seriously though, if you’re still reading, open Spotify and search BANKS. Put on your headphones and lock yourself in your room or your car and just drive. It will be your new favourite secret. That album that feels like it’s only for you. You want to tell the world about it, but you want it just for yourself.
