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Live Review: Kota Banks doesn't want your '20 Missed Calls'

24 July 2019 | 4:03 pm | Caitlin Medcalf

Returning with her first single on Sony Music Australia, Kota Banks serves self-love & no second chances on '20 Missed Calls'.

After dropping her debut mixtape Prize last year, Sydney's KOTA BANKS has been changing the pop sphere one track at a time. With a back catalogue that bursts at the seams with self-love and a sense of confidence that could only come from an artist like Banks, she's today adding another slice of self-care in '20 Missed Calls' to her name. This is her first track on Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

Keeping in stead with her witty, highly emotive way of songwriting, '20 Missed Calls' is a self-respect anthem, the track's story seeing her demanding to control her own narrative. It's an ode to those that don't deserve a second chance.

Her vocal carries the ballad format on strongly, but at the same time, she adds her own sassy flavour to it, giving it a millennial sheen. Her vocoded voice sits wholly atop pounding chords, later eventuating into a chorus that's accented with rapid-fire telephone themed samples.

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Of the track, she said:

“The two things that are important to me when I write music are that it’s empowering and strong in its message, and that it’s fresh and clever lyrically. Even though ‘20 Missed Calls’ is a ballad, it’s a sassier edgier take on the conventional “ballad” and there are some punchlines that make it feel unique to me.”

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm definitely a bit biased because I work for her occasionally, but Kota Banks is the future of pop music. Her attitude towards self-love and celebrating her sense of empowerment carry on through everything she tackles, and with '20 Missed Calls', she's continuing to solidify herself as a refreshing voice in the current pop landscape.

Words by CAITLIN MEDCALF

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