If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that although I spend a lot of time writing about bubblegum pop, my heart really lies with R&B-leaning pop. I secretly want all pop idols to go R&B, successfully. (And Justin Bieber probably would've made a fairly seamless crossover, if he hadn't let his fame get in his own way.) Banks is not now or ever going to be a pop idol (she's already in her mid twenties and probably has no such ambitions), but she's started off where I hope most pop idols will end up ... making what people are calling "dark R&B" which, to me, sounds like house/ambient music meets R&B/pop.

Banks is Jillian Banks, an L.A. native whose sound is almost indistinguishable from European house artists ... until that R&B beat drops. She released her first EP, "Fall Over" in early 2013, and her second one -- which she recorded entirely in one month's time in London and consequently titled "London" -- in late 2013. It's not groundbreaking and as far as I can tell she's not a virtuoso singer, but her music is a pleasure to listen to. It's not about the parts that go into the music here, not the lyrics, the beat, the instruments, the vocals ... it's about using all of these elements together to create a mood. And when pulled together, Banks' sound is incredibly sleek and sexy in a laid back way that is simultaneously London and L.A., and for nighttime listening only.