''The Altar'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter
Banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becaus ...
, released on September 30, 2016, by
Harvest Records
Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969.
History
Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...
. Banks collaborated with several producers on the album, including
Tim Anderson,
Sohn, and
Al Shux
Alexander Shuckburgh, who is also known as Al Shux, is a British record producer and songwriter from London, England. Shux has worked with musical artists Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Plan B, Tinie Tempah and Lana Del R ...
, with whom she worked on her debut studio album, ''
Goddess''. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and became her second top 20 in the United States, peaking at number 17 on the
''Billboard'' 200. It spawned four singles: "
Fuck with Myself", "
Gemini Feed", "
Mind Games
Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the a ...
", and "
To the Hilt".
Background
On November 4, 2015, Banks released the single "
Better", along with its accompanying music video. Banks toured with The Weeknd for a second time, opening for him on his
The Madness Fall Tour across North America from November to December 2015. She announced on June 8, 2016, that she had finished work on her second album. On July 29, Banks revealed that the album would be titled ''The Altar'', along with its cover art and release date.
The lead single from the album, "
Fuck with Myself", was released on July 12, 2016. Banks premiered the track on
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
's
Beats 1 radio show, where she said it was the last song she wrote for the album. "There's so many meanings to it", she said of the song. "It could be like, 'I fuck with myself', like, 'I mess with myself more than anybody else.' It could be, 'I fuck with myself', kind of like, 'I'm feeling myself.' It means a lot of different things that I think a lot of people can relate to." The album's second single, "
Gemini Feed", premiered on
Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show on August 2, 2016, and was released digitally the following day. "
Mind Games
Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the a ...
" was released as the third single from the album on August 19, 2016, followed by "
To the Hilt" on September 16, 2016. A music video for the song "
Trainwreck" premiered on January 18, 2017.
Critical reception
''The Altar'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
score of 70, based on 17 reviews.
Jamie Milton of ''
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
'' magazine wrote that "when going for the jugular, BANKS combines unbending confidence,
warts 'n all detail and gigantic choruses in the same move", adding that "''The Altar'' is very close to being a razor-sharp pop blueprint."
George Garner of ''
Q'' magazine called the album "
unning", stating that "Banks has excelled at transforming accrued romantic scarring into mesmeric songcraft" and "''The Altar'' marks a radical intensification of her talents".
Neil Z. Yeung of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
opined that "Banks has strengthened her voice—resolutely and with increased production value—in the two years since her debut ''
Goddess''."
Shahzaib Hussain of ''
Clash'' viewed ''The Altar'' as "more textured and artful than ''Goddess'', BANKS growing into her role as a writer, upholding the sensual melancholia that characterised her debut."
Sputnikmusic commented that "
e confidence on this album is inspired, observable, and the clear result of Banks' growth as a songwriter."
Kellan Miller of ''
Drowned in Sound'' noted that Banks is "even more unfiltered and tenacious on ''The Altar'' than she was on ''Goddess''" and that she is "perfectly comfortable in her own skin and artistic abilities, and it shows immensely on ''The Altar''".
Writing for ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', Maura Johnston concluded that "Banks' list of grievances can get wearying, but the music's dour detail is alluring too."
Kate Hutchinson of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described the album as "claustrophobic with try-hardness" and felt that "Banks doesn't sound empowered, she sounds stretched".
In a mixed review, Andrew Paschal of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' expressed that "
e high points of ''The Altar'' are nearly perfect, but these are outnumbered by a massive middle section unremarkable, uninspired filler."
Katherine St. Asaph of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' found that "''The Altar'' has a lot in common with ''Goddess'', including its fatal flaw: its attempts to position Banks as edgy or dangerous, despite all musical evidence to the contrary."
Commercial performance
''The Altar'' debuted at number 17 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 with 14,220 copies sold in pure album sales. The album debuted at number 24 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, selling 3,229 copies in its first week.
Track listing
Notes
* On the physical release of the album, "Gemini Feed" contains a piano intro and has a length of 3:25.
On the digital version, the song does not include the intro, reducing the track's length to 3:06.
* Despite not being credited as a songwriter of "Mind Games" in the album's liner notes, Jenna Andrews is listed as a songwriter by
BMI.
* signifies a vocal producer
* signifies an additional producer
* signifies a co-producer
Sample credits
* "Poltergeist" contains a sample from "Hold On Jus' a Li'l While Longer" by
Sounds of Blackness
Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Hot Dan ...
.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Altar''.
Musicians
*
Banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becaus ...
– vocals
*
Edmund Finnis
Edmund Finnis (born 1984) is a British composer of classical and electronic music. His works have been commissioned and performed by orchestras and ensembles including the Britten Sinfonia, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfoniet ...
– string arrangements
* Chris Spilfogel – string conducting
*
The Section Quartet
The Section Quartet is a string quartet founded by Eric Gorfain that performs cover versions of rock songs.
History
Eric Gorfain founded the quartet after working for the 1996 tour of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. He said the quartet fulfilled h ...
** Daphne Chen – violin
**
Eric Gorfain
Eric Gorfain is an American violinist and founder of The Section Quartet, a string quartet that plays cover versions of rock songs. He is married to singer-songwriter Sam Phillips, with whom he has toured and recorded.
Gorfain studied music at UC ...
– violin
** Leah Katz – viola
**
Richard Dodd – cello
*
Gary Hines – sample arrangement
Technical
*
Sohn – production ; recording ; additional production ; engineering, mixing
* Chris Spilfogel – vocal recording, vocal production ; recording
* Seth Perez – vocal recording assistance, vocal production assistance ; recording ; recording assistance
*
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work.
Life and career
...
– mixing
* Chris Galland – mix engineering
* Jeff Jackson – mix engineering assistance
* Robin Florent – mix engineering assistance
*
Al Shux
Alexander Shuckburgh, who is also known as Al Shux, is a British record producer and songwriter from London, England. Shux has worked with musical artists Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Plan B, Tinie Tempah and Lana Del R ...
– production, recording
*
Aron Forbes – vocal recording ; recording ; additional production ; co-production
*
Tim Anderson – production ; executive production
* Leggy – mixing
*
DJ Dahi
Dacoury Dahi Natche (born March 10, 1983), professionally known as DJ Dahi, is an American DJ, songwriter, record producer and singer from Inglewood, California. Dahi is perhaps best known for producing " Money Trees" by American rapper Kendri ...
– production ; co-production
*
Rich Costey
Rich may refer to:
Common uses
* Rich, an entity possessing wealth
* Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling
** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting
Places United States
* Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated comm ...
– mixing
* Martin Cooke – mix engineering assistance
* Nicolas Fourier – mix engineering assistance
* Mario Bogatta – mix assistance
*
DannyBoyStyles
Danny Schofield, known professionally as DannyBoyStyles (and previously known as Styles), is a Grammy award-winning record producer, engineer, songwriter, and composer. He produced all ten tracks on the Weeknd's album ''Kiss Land'' and won a Gram ...
– production
* Ben Billions – production
* The Anmls – co-production
* Danny Schofield – recording
* Sean Tallman – mixing
*
John Hill – production
* Rob Cohen – recording
* Banks – executive production
* Pete Lyman – mastering
Artwork
* Thomas Whiteside – photography
* Sydney Nichols – design
Charts
Release history
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altar, The
2016 albums
Albums produced by Al Shux
Albums produced by DJ Dahi
Albums produced by John Hill (record producer)
Albums recorded at Westlake Recording Studios
Banks (singer) albums
Harvest Records albums