The Singles Jukebox

This one is a bit of a deep cut.

[Video][Website]
[4.86]

Alfred Soto: A worried, mumbling number that strikes back against a cruel lover with a wasp cloud of synths. She fucks with us, not herself.
[7]

Claire Biddles: The ambiguity of the title is interesting — self-sabotage or self-love? — and the percussive introduction hints at something lush and sensual, but I’m bored of alt-R’n’B that sounds like this. The song’s skittering production is blandly fashionable, and Banks’ reedy delivery lacks the personality and masochistic sexuality of someone like FKA Twigs, who increasingly feels like the model for this diluted, overused sound.
[4]

Will Rivitz: I really got down with Goddess and London when they dropped a few years ago, but now that something like eighty percent of Soundcloud divas are hiding behind shrouds of “dark electronica” or whatever the term du jour is nowadays, what Banks is doing is no longer as special as it once was. If Banks is to remain worth our time, her sound ought to evolve, but this sounds like a B-side from 2013.
[4]

Natasha Genet Avery: I might be the only person here who liked Goddess. I spent a whole winter taking in Banks’ big, wobbly synths and nodding along to her even bigger proclamations (Banks was always in danger, drowning, begging, running away, etc.). On “Fuck With Myself,” over sparse percussion and dissonant strums on a koto, Banks makes the leap from theatrical to theater-kid. She doesn’t do weird well; note the punctuated/distancing delivery of “fuck with myself more than anybody else.” Banks’ small, unsteady vocals can perfectly capture pain but don’t project the confidence necessary for a title this bold or a track this minimal.
[5]

Will Adams: I missed the Banks boat the first time it sailed around, and now I’m still not sure I want to climb aboard. Over a plain base of percussive skitters and dark synths, Banks makes several attempts to give menace to the title, whether via whispers, detached exhale, or an incredibly annoying, gulped delivery (of course, she does that one the most). No matter how ineffective it is, though, she continues throwing darts at the board, making “Fuck With Myself” feel way longer than three minutes.
[3]

Katherine St Asaph: Banks always comes off like she’s doing karaoke of someone else’s songs — like how you always think you sound better than you do while singing under your breath — and “Fuck With Myself” is no different.
[5]

Edward Okulicz: I love how the intro plays with silence, but the track doesn’t get better with more density. It’s still quite an eerie listen, and Banks’ voice works well with it until the points where she really sings because it seems out of character for the song — the “IT’S OUR LOVE!” bits in the chorus don’t fit right with the mood or the narrative built up so well with the rest of the song. She’s like an unwanted guest on her own single!
[6]