Separately they are Interpol’s Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, but together on debut album Anything But Words they form the mighty Banks & Steelz – the saviours of rap-rock. 

Hmm, that sounds shitter than I hoped. Bear with me…

Best Interpol is the Interpol that’s set to maximum overdrive. The one that quickens your pulse and raises the hairs on the back of your neck… The Interpol from ‘Say Hello to the Angels’, ‘Slow Hands’ or 2014’s note-perfect ‘All the Rage Back Home’.

Yeah the moody morose stuff is good too – but that hit a grim wall of doom on their rightly unloved self-titled 2010 album. No, it’s the Interpol of ‘PDA’ and ‘The Heinrich Maneuvre’ that truly exhilarates.

You can thank guitarist/vocalist Paul Banks for that. As evidenced by his solo work – 2009’s Julian Plenti… is Skyscraper and 2012’s excellent Banks – Interpol’s secretary general has mastered the art of delivering a melody that charges right into your soul. This, when coupled with his slightly detached baritone, makes for an incredible double-hit of lazer-targeted earnestness.

And that’s the Paul Banks we get on Banks & Steelz’ debut album Anything But Words, a collaboration that sees Banks working with Wu-Tang Clan’s chief producer, gravel-throated rapper and badass soundtrack composer – RZA.

It’s not as unlikely as it sounds. Banks has been flirting with hip-hop for years. He worked with Run The Jewels‘ El-P on the glorious Cancer for the Cure track ’Works Every Time’ and hey, while we’re presenting evidence, here’s Paul Banks’ hip-hop mixtape from 2013 featuring Taleb Kweli and High Prizm…

Yeah it’s fine.

As for RZA? Well he’s a jack of all trades, master of… uh… some.

You’ll see him pop up from time-to-time in movies of varying degrees of quality. His own directorial debut, The Man With the Iron Fists, is a true vanity project of the most indulgent kind (although made watchable thanks to the bizarre casting of Russell Crowe and the sheer amount of violence), and his solo albums since the early Wu-Tang days have been inconsistent to say the least.

Sadly, despite some excellent soundtrack work and welcome guest spots on other artists’ tracks, RZA has felt more like a directionless samurai; a lost ronin without a master; a wu-tang without a clan. But with Banks and Steelz he feels right at home…

RZA’s delivery is smooth, yet smoky. His beats intriguing and dramatic. The hard-edged hip-hop that RZA has forged all on his own, perfectly slots into place with Paul Banks’ strident, heart-grasping post-punk.

Opening track ’Giant’ is Anything But Words’ most obvious and immediate highlight. The track’s breathless tempo and both artists’ infectious energy make it one of the most addictive things I’ve listened to in years. ‘Ana Electronic’ is a gorgeous little synth-pop gem, with RZA at his most uncharacteristically sweet. ‘Sword in the Stone’ featuring Kool Keith is essentially Banks and Steelz’ battle-cry/anthem (“Put your motherfucking hands in the air”) and ‘Speedway Sonora’ is perhaps the closest thing you’ll get to an Interpol track on the album. But it’s ‘Wild Season’ featuring Florence Welch, which is the standout effort here. Mainly because it sounds like nothing any of these artists has ever produced before.

Anything But Words is weakest when it’s at its moodiest. The title track is cloying and overly melodramatic, made worse by Banks’ vocals that have the raspiness of a ballideering Ozzy Osbourne. The final third contains all the dullest tracks, and there’s perhaps too much compromise between both artists as they coalesce their respective sounds into a grey middle-ground. But this is more than made up for with ‘Love and War’ featuring Ghostface Killah, which is a funky, rhythmic beast full of broken hearts and elegiac brass. And Ghostface Killah.

So despite their undeniable talents and chemistry, the album as a whole isn’t a complete success, but when it hits, it sounds like the very best of both worlds. 4/5

Check out all the latest music releases in our new album reviews section, including Fresh Snow’s ONE.