Having kicked off 2014 by finishing third on the BBC Sound Poll, there’s plenty of hype and excitement surrounding Banks, and from the strength of her sophisticated and soulful songs we think that this year could easily be hers for the taking. Admittedly, things don’t start off too well at her first-ever headline show in Bristol – the opening lines of Before I Ever Met You were completely drowned out by the backing track, and her obvious nerves made the audience interaction practically non-existent for the first twenty minutes or so. However, after being helped along by an adoring crowd things quickly pick up, and by the end of the night she goes into great detail about the meaning behind new songs and delivers some pretty impressive vocals. The night may have proved a little bumpy, but ultimately she emerges as an artist who is undeniably worthy of the hype.
Of the new songs performed, Goddess already sounds like a potential album highlight. She introduces it by discussing her struggles as a female songwriter and states that “every woman is a fucking goddess”, with this frank openness helping to make her an engaging and likeable performer. She also proves to be extremely versatile on stage, as while Fall Over is given a gorgeously stripped back performance with just her vocals and a keyboard, This Is What It Feels Like sees her effortlessly bounce around the stage. The running order of the set could do with work, however, as she choses to end with another new track (the funky Stick), instead of a more obvious choice such as the brilliantly atmospheric Waiting Game.
The night’s highlight would have to be Brain, which she belts out as if her life depended on it, quickly followed by the cover of Aaliyah’s Are You That Somebody?. She somehow manages to stay true to the original’s brilliance while also adding a little of her own charm – it was a risky choice for a cover, but she tackled it nicely. By the night’s end any lingering memories of those first few awkward minutes are long gone, and there’s one question on the minds of those in the crowd – if she’s this good now, how good is she going to be in a year or two?
