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8.5
47686
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Full of great, memorable songs, Banks is an intriguing, beguiling and surprising album
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8.0
47687
8.0 |
DIY
It’s a strong album and shows once and for all that Paul Banks doesn’t need Interpol, Interpol needs him
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8.0
47736
8.0 |
NME
No pillars of noise, no bandmates – and he’s burning all the brighter for it
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8.0
47767
8.0 |
Under The Radar
While Julian Plenti is Skyscraper mainly consisted of songs written pre-Interpol, Banks is all new material, and is a manifestation of the quantum leap Banks has taken as a songwriter and arranger
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8.0
47797
8.0 |
Mojo
The new album not only ditches the Plenti alter-ego, it firmly re-enters Interpol's cold, black, steely universe. Print edition only
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8.0
47689
8.0 |
Bowlegs
Paul gives a bloody good, if not full, account of himself. Good on him too. Banks is great
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8.0
47706
8.0 |
musicOMH
It manages to entertain and intrigue, and suggests that there's a lot more to Paul Banks than perhaps even he might care to acknowledge
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8.0
47854
8.0 |
Art Rocker
He's keeping the song writing tight and in the key of theatrical, gloomy indie
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8.0
48026
8.0 |
Q
An intensely bewildering listen. Print edition only
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8.0
48643
8.0 |
State
What he has conjured is an album showcasing the breadth of his talent with a dramatic flair that gives him a stamp of his own
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7.0
48957
7.0 |
Blurt
When intertwined with some of the best pop songwriting of his career, namely the shimmering "Young Again," nothing he's done prior comes close to the greatness of Banks
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7.0
48077
7.0 |
All Music
A place for him to explore all of the music he wants to make outside of Interpol, challenging himself and his fans along the way
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7.0
47716
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Through grandiose swells of instrumentation, Banks separates drastically from the subtlety of Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper, more of an awakening than an album
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7.0
47721
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
A noble attempt to progress a rather formulaic, albeit excellent, musical career
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7.0
47690
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
As ever, it’s the voice that draws you in. A decade since that first Interpol release, it starts to now resonate with something approaching authority
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7.0
47798
7.0 |
Uncut
Interpol singer goes it alone but sounds the same. Print edition only
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7.0
47788
7.0 |
Tone Deaf
A commanding listen with an array of concise sounds and textures, resulting in Banks crafting his best work in over half a decade
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6.0
47688
6.0 |
BBC
While it lacks focus and cohesive identity, the album Paul Banks named after himself does demonstrate that there’s more to this artist than previous form suggests
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6.0
47691
6.0 |
The Irish Times
The stoic glaze that coats his lyrics leaves songs as impenetrable and hard to love
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6.0
47725
6.0 |
The Scotsman
Banks washes by divertingly enough, especially on a couple of plangent instrumentals
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6.0
48319
6.0 |
God Is In The TV
Banks’s rich, Curtis-esque croon still comforts and defines the record, for better or worse – although here it occasionally drowns, maybe deliberately, into the sloopy, dracula-wave melodies around him
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6.0
47954
6.0 |
No Ripcord
To his credit, Banks’ refusal to keep still in the past few years has only strengthened his songwriting and lyrical competence
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5.8
47870
5.8 |
Pitchfork
He could potentially forge a new direction away from Interpol, just not this direction
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5.0
47742
5.0 |
Beats Per Minute
Banks is showing some desire to move beyond the design that his career has sustained itself on, but this album shows he’s not quite ready to cut the cord
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2.0
47692
2.0 |
The Independent
Adolescent apocalyptism and self-regard set to lumpy, mechanistic beats and cluttered arrangements in which laborious guitar arpeggios and keyboard washes are muddied by pointless spoken-word samples and wayward effects
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