Naomi Banks shares alluring alt-pop single ‘Waiting’

The latest single from UK-based singer Naomi Banks opens with a seductive French intro. 

It murmurs over a rising electronic beat that segues into a smooth backing track as Banks begins to sing, “Bored when you throw yourself at my feet”.

The languidness of her tone communicates an effortless expression of boredom. 

This stylish ennui sets up the track’s central idea of wanting something even though you know it isn’t good for you.

In the official press release for the single, Banks explains, “It’s about wanting someone when you know they are absolutely no good for you. I wrote it with my pal Gareth Malone, we have been friends for nearly ten years now – I love him and making music with him.”

‘Waiting’, along with Banks’s previous releases, which include the single ‘I Don’t Mind’ and the May 2021 EP ‘Meeting Again’, resist assimilation within a single genre. Their sound is not quite pop, jazz, R&B, or electronic. It’s a weaving together of different styles in a way that feels organic and complementary to Banks’s uniquely restrained and rich vocals.

As ‘Waiting’ moves into its chorus, the backing track rises and stretches out expressively as the vocals also soar with the line, “I’ve been waiting around, thinking about your sick mind, sick mind…”

This moves into an elastic, reverberating verse, with the beat dancing around the vocals in a way that feels distinctly deft and natural. A low trumpet is introduced into the backing track, injecting another level of languidness into the song’s atmosphere.

The French murmuring that opened the track pipes up again as the music fades out – just as hazily as it began.

Naomi Banks’s new record ‘The Mixtape’ is due for release on the 9^th of September. She is definitely one to keep an eye on, with a sound that refreshingly blends aspects of well-known music styles with a flair and sophistication that is all her own.

 

Eleanor Burleigh

@eleanoranneb

Image: Waiting Official Single Cover (PRESS)