Listen: Banks - "Beggin For Thread"

A shift away from her previous tracks, “Beggin For Thread” is a relatively upbeat (by Banks standards anyway) piece of blues-pop, set at a distance from the RnB slow jams she usually produces. But her fans needn’t fear betrayal just yet. Her tone may be more conversational than confrontational, there may even be some gospel-inspired choral touches and a ricocheting synth beat, but the menace remains. Banks’ power rests with the breathy bravado in the lower register of her voice and here she puts it to startlingly fine use - not least in the final cadence of the track. This is undoubtedly Banks on full-on, fiery form, and she’s out for blood, cursing the man who left her “begging for thread”.

However, for all the velveteen richness of her music, Banks’ pared down vocal can lend itself to feeling apathetic, even, at times, bored; in some senses it doesn’t seem entirely unfair to describe her sonically as a West Coast counterpart to Lana Del Rey. Conversely, where Del Rey’s persona is one of victimhood (the characters in her songs can be suckers for punishment) Banks sings from higher ground, playing the scorned lover in equal parts righteous and vengeful.

“Begging For Thread” is the eighth track to have been released from Goddess and it maintains its predecessors’ dedication to signature style. It’s a testament to the confidence of her sound that despite still being in the salad days of her career she’s used as a measure by which to judge the success of other similar artists. Her longplayer may not surprise many people upon its release but with the caliber of work she’s producing, it doesn’t mean it’s any less thrilling a prospect. ​