Singer-songwriter Banks asserts her power as a female vocalist with the release of her second studio album, The Altar. The emotionally engaging record carefully combines elements of trap, hip-hop and pop, resulting in a sound that captures the soulful singer’s essence, but fails to differentiate her from today’s line of alternative pop artists.
“Gemini Feed,” an electronic ballad that deals with a self-destructive relationship, opens the album, providing a forecast for a release filled with the vilification of abusive partners and self-praise in combating the emotional wounds left by them. The beat of the song is hypnotic and is a promising sign of progress from the singer’s debut album, Goddess. However, the improvement in style does not prevent the album from feeling uninspired at times, as several tracks share the same theme. I still remember the first time I heard Banks’ music. It was 2013 and she was opening for The Weeknd’s The Fall tour. I remember watching the singer move with the beat drops in her songs and thinking that despite performing in a room full of more than 3,000 eager Weeknd fans, she was putting on a show only for herself. This attitude is echoed on “Fuck With Myself,” as the track’s experimental sound combined with self-assured lyrics solidify the singer’s sovereign representation.
It’s Banks’ level of independence and poise that keeps fans coming back to her music. Her new album focuses on more than confidence, as it wrestles with themes such as self-acceptance and heartbreak, displaying the human side to the dark singer. Banks’ use of her music as an outlet for her emotional vulnerability is a source of mutual understanding among her listeners, an unsurprising function of a singer who still gives her personal number out to fans.
Though the album contends with several themes, its tracks often fall into the same format. On “Mind Games,” Banks describes an addiction to an abusive partner. Her sweet, yet heavily distorted vocals mirror the confusion of toxic relationships that, while being unpredictable, provide stability in an emotionally unstable life. While the unique mix of warped harmonies is engaging, my appreciation for the song diminished when I noticed the melodic similarity to “Mother Earth” in its chorus.
The album’s failure is its inability to distinguish Banks as an alternative pop singer. The tracks, while well-produced, are repetitive in style and subject matter. Banks is undoubtedly talented, but the album is unable to move her beyond the caliber of other pop singers famous on SoundCloud. There are more than enough songs dealing with her improved strength and confidence, but not enough songs experimenting with her vocals, as many of tracks succumb to a pattern of layered vocals on extravagant trap beats.
The Altar may come off as formulaic, but Banks’ undeniable talent and progression as a pop artist is clear in this release. Banks is a singer who is evolving, and while this album had its moments of disappointment, it also had its moments of brilliance. The album showcases the singer’s rare talent in relating to her listeners, moving beyond the limits of her predictable songwriting.
