Album Review: Athena by Sudan Archives

The Cincinnati native - real name Brittney Parks - promptly begged her mum to buy her a violin, which she learned by ear playing in her local church choir. After graduating, Parks spent her days watching YouTube videos about West African folk music and experimenting with effect pedals and a digital loop station, forging a unique sound that she has honed across two EPs. Athena, Sudan Archives ' first full-length release, is her boldest statement yet, the culmination of everywhere she's been and everything she's learned.

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Nothing about Sudan Archives and Sink, Brittney Parks' self-written and self-produced Stones Throw EPs, sounded underdeveloped or uncertain. That they were filled with tunes akin to repeated epigrams and transportive moodscapes -- instead of traditionally-structured songs -- seemed like a deliberate artistic choice, not a deficiency. It's only after being weighed against the LP follow-up Athena that they come across as unripe.

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No one calls her album Athena if she isn't trying to convey the strength of women. Brittney Parks makes her strength in her guise of Sudan Archives immediately known. The singer and violinist brings presence and personality to her debut full length album, having carved a unique space for herself over two EPs in as many years. Parks has a knack for writing massive hooks that will dig straight into your brain.

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