Meet BANKS, the sultry songstress who both myself and the music industry can't get enough of. I first discovered her randomly hidden within a Spotify playlist and instantly fell for her. Her music is mean, moody, and - with a major R&B influence - incredibly sexy too. If you like artists like The XX, Jamie Woon or AlunaGeorge, you will love BANKS' effortless, soulful vibe.
As well as loving her musically, I also think that BANKS has great personal style. In keeping with her music, her style is dark and moody. She wears almost exclusively all black, which for me pretty much guarantees I'm going to love any look she throws together. Her style incorporates masculine pieces such as boxy blazers and tapered suit trousers, and flowing, feminine styles like draped cardigans and skirts. Her image is all about feeling and looking sexy but strong.
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WAITING GAME
Baby, I'm thinking it over, what if the way we started made it something cursed from the start? What if it only gets colder? Would you still wrap me up and tell me that you think this was smart?
CHANGE (Note: I personally think this song is a lyrical masterpiece)
Always cold while you'd self-incriminate, by avoiding all my questions and calling me an instigator.
Cut me down always calling me unstable, you so easily can make me cry, just coz you are in a mood.
Call me out, you would say I need attention, just because I put on makeup,
to ironically look good for you. Cut me to pieces, while you watched me disintegrate,
coz you like to tell me how you hate, all the ways I'm not enough for you.
BRAIN
I can see you struggling, boy don't hurt your brain, thinking what you're gonna say.
Coz everything's a game, always trying to calculate, trying to look smart but not too
smart to threaten anything they say.
...
What really sets Banks apart as an artist is her incredibly intimate and emotional lyrics. One of the biggest reasons why for me personally her music is so refreshing and beautiful, is the raw honesty of her words. She speaks from real pain, jealousy, lust and rage. She taps into really personal and intimate ideas and emotions, exploring the darker feelings that most female musicians shy away from. She sings about the most simple of human experiences in a completely relatable way, and creates immensely powerful and emotive music that her loyal audience can connect with on a very real level. That was certainly the case for me anyway.
In an interview with i-D magazine, BANKS said the following:
'My message is one of strength: I want woman to feel like goddesses, I want them to feel sexy, I want them to feel beautiful, I want them to feel empowered, I want them to feel strong, I want them to feel that it's okay to feel angry or insecure or fearful - but you shouldn't always feel like that, because you are a goddess. You feel those things, but you aren't those things'.
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'My message is one of strength: I want woman to feel like goddesses, I want them to feel sexy, I want them to feel beautiful, I want them to feel empowered, I want them to feel strong, I want them to feel that it's okay to feel angry or insecure or fearful - but you shouldn't always feel like that, because you are a goddess. You feel those things, but you aren't those things'.
...
