One day, the Greek god Zeus has such a headache that he asks his son Hephaistos to split his head open with an ax. Thus Athena is born, completely clad in armor. It was the source of inspiration for this album by the American artist Brittney Parks, in turn equipped with voice and violin. She taught herself to play the violin and this is used on Athena to incorporate Sudanese and Ghanaian influences
… into a brooding R&B production. Parks thus joins artists such as , and , each of which converts their own vision of the genre into an idiosyncratic version. On Athena, Parks also discusses misconceptions about her appearance and how she comes across to people. 'You think I'm soft like Iceland moss?' she sings teasingly and sultry. Well, she certainly isn't. On Athena you can hear from which bronze this lady was cast. (JvQ)more
