2012, Matador Records

Paul Banks, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Interpol, finally steps fully out from behind his Julian Plenti alter-ego on his second solo album. Following this summer's limited edition (and now sold out) EP, the new album is a tour-de-force of mechanized, minor-key intensity. Recorded in New York and Connecticut with producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Shearwater, Jonsi among others), Banks is by turns bleak, sad and exhilarating. Featuring some of Banks's most complex song structures yet.