Goddess

Justin Parker

Jesse Rogg

Shlohmo

Al Shux

Sohn

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Jamie Woon

## Singles

1. Warm Water2. Brain

3. Drowning

4. Beggin for Thread

**Goddess** is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Banks. It was released on September 5th, 2014, by Harvest Records. It includes all four tracks from her second extended play *London*, while the deluxe edition includes two tracks from her debut extended play *Fall Over*. The album had four singles: *Warm Water*, *Brain*, *Drowning*, and *Beggin for Thread*. A companion remix album, *Goddess (Remixes)*, was released digitally on March 23, 2015.

## Background

In February 2014, Banks mentioned that her then-untitled debut studio album was nearing completion; she commented, "I feel like I still have a few more things to let out so that I'll feel really comfortable and happy with my first album being released." In April, Banks announced that the album would be titled Goddess, and confirmed that it would be released on September 9, 2014 in the United States.

## Theme

Goddess mostly talks about one person overcoming a relationship and become more confident with it.

Banks told FUSE about the origins of the album’s title: “It’s more about people, kind of highlighting being human and highlighting everything you feel weak and strong about.”

She continued in detail during another interview: “[the theme is] to be honest and to accept feeling strong at times, weak at times, fragile at times, empowered, sexy, scared, angry, aggressive at times. All of these things make me feel powerful and liberated to be able to write about […] I just want to highlight being human because every woman is a goddess and sometimes you can feel ashamed of being a human, and you just shouldn’t be.”

## Gallery

### Booklet

Banks Goddess (Deluxe Edition) - Album Unboxing
## Critical Reception

The album received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 74, based on 22 reviews on Metacritic, with the best score being 94 and the worst being 50.

Miles Raymer of Entertainment Weekly commended Banks for her "sonic ambition and willingness to risk alienating a pop audience with Goddess' gloomy, tweaky beats". Tshepo Mokoena of The Guardian noted that Banks "lays her emotions bare, at times almost embarrassingly so, sounding raw and vengeful when she belts—and a bit like Fiona Apple in the chirr of her upper vocal register", concluding that although the songs "Someone New" and "Under the Table" "sink into nondescript ballad territory", *Goddess* is otherwise an "accomplished debut". In a mixed review, Andrew Ryce of Pitchfork commented that "there are moments where [Banks] sounds unpretentious and charming", while dismissing her aesthetic as "all trendy misery assisted by equally fashionable producers, without any substance to hold it all up."

Slant Magazine placed *Goddess* at number eight on its list of The 25 Best Albums of 2014. Rolling Stone named it the 17th best R&B album of 2014, and the magazine's Cady Drell wrote, "More than just an Internet sensation, [...] Banks can go from gloomy trance cuts one minute to lyrically explicit soul jams the next—all with an impressively modern gothic touch." It was also listed as the 24th best album of the year by The Guardian, and number 28 PopMatters' end-year list.

## Charts

*Goddess* debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies in its first week. By September 2016, it had sold 120,000 copies in the United States. The album debuted at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 3,977 copies. Other chart entrances include:

* 17 on Australian Albums (ARIA)
* 47 on Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
* 37 on Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
* 31 on Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
* 8 on Canadian Albums (Billboard)
* 22 on Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
* 75 on Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
* 70 on French Albums (SNEP)
* 18 on German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
* 23 on Irish Albums (IRMA)
* 18 on New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
* 32 on Polish Albums (ZPAV)
* 34 on Scottish Albums (OCC)
* 12 on Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
* 4 on US Independent Albums (Billboard)

**OBS:** The list shows the peak positions of the album on the charts.

## References

<references>

1. ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/1656562/qa-banks-on-her-burgeoning-success-debut-album-and-giving-her-phone-number-out-to-the-entire-world/franchises/interview/
2. ↑ https://www.gigwise.com/news/90570/banks-streams-new-track-goddess-announces-album
3. ↑ https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2014/09/t10-banks-interview
4. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/music/goddess/banks/critic-reviews
5. ↑ http://ew.com/article/2014/11/07/goddess-2/
6. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/04/banks-goddess-review-accomplished-debut
7. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19787-banks-goddess/
8. ↑ https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-25-best-albums-of-2014/P4
9. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/20-best-rb-albums-of-2014-168202/banks-goddess-227628/
10. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/nov/26/-sp-the-best-albums-of-2014
11. ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/feature/188860-the-best-albums-of-2014/P5/
12. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/1933622/lecrae-first-1-album-anomaly/
13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20161001180342/http://hitsdailydouble.com/new\_album\_releases
14. ↑ http://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/official-charts-analysis-sam-smith-retains-no-1-album-slot-in-busiest-week-of-the-year/059577