<span>- <strong>Brittney Parks</strong>, better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, has been a regular musical presence since 2017, so it may come as a surprise that <em>Athena</em> is actually her debut album; and although her alias may suggest she’s some kind of ethnomusicologist a la <strong>Alan Lomax</strong>, Sudan Archives is in fact a singer and violinist who makes a classically-informed style of modern R&B. After two EPs that firmly established her unconventional style, <em>Athena</em> reinforces this while also being the most approachable set of songs she’s done to date. </span>
<span>Immediately apparent is her imaginative and textural use of the violin, which adds amazing colour to the songs as her instrument slashes abrasively, plucks percussively and sweeps cinematically. Combined with a futuristic, off-kilter approach to R&B (with shades of <strong>Kelela</strong> and <strong>FKA Twigs</strong>), her latest set of songs manages to be both catchy and subtle. Vocally, she’s not a soul-belter, her voice more honeyed and soft. It’s the right way to go about cool, collected songs such as <em>Iceland Moss</em> and the personal opening track <em>Did You Know</em>. Like a true storyteller, she kicks off the album with a nostalgic nod to her youth: “<em>When I was a little girl, I thought I could rule the world</em>” she coos over insistent pulses of plucked violin. </span>
<span>The beats on the album are electronic and slow, but are also subject to dynamic shifts, complementing the tone of the album. This is particularly evident in <em>Coming Up</em>, a shapeshifting slow jam in which voices, beats and strings are given various whizzbang treatments without sacrificing the integrity of the tune. </span>
<span>Parks' West African influence is evident in the violin motif for the sparse groovy thud of <em>Glorious</em> and there’s eerie sampled voices providing a disembodied gospel chorus in the track <em>Honey</em>, over the top of trudging beats reminiscent of ‘90's triphop.</span>
<span>As one would expect from Sudan Archives, <em>Athena</em> is a daring, experimental album though distinctly less in-your-face than much of her previous work. It’s the sound of an artist refining and honing her craft without sacrificing the elements which make her work interesting. </span>
<span>- Matt Thrower.</span>
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