Banks Releases New Album 'Off With Her Head' Enlisting Doechii, Sampha & Yseult
The elusive electro-pop star unleashes her wrath over distorted production and ethereal autotune vocalizations.
Roughly three years since her last full-length LP, electro-pop singer-songwriter Banks has returned in full force with her latest album Off With Her Head. The hard-hitting twelve-track project boasts the most features out of any of her previous albums, including Grammy-winning rapper of the hour Doechii, French pop singer Yseult, and R&B vocalist Sampha.
The opening track “Guillotine” begins with slowly swelling arpeggiated synths building into a cacophony of distorted electronic noises, and concludes with the blunt lyric “Put the tape on your mouth and your head on the block.” The album quickly moves into the leading single, “I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend (feat. Doechii),” a deconstructed house track that showcases Doechii’s varied inflections with a softly spoken verse.
Towards the middle of the tracklist, the content of the songs takes a gentler approach with tender lyrics and subdued production. Track five “Move (feat. Yseult)” includes an impressive exchange of vocal harmonies shared by the two singers and a verse in French by Yseult, professing sensual passion for a lover. Later, “Best Friends” tells an emotional and relatable story of decaying friendship over slowed 808s, acoustic guitar, and strings. Next, “Meddle in the Mold” reintroduces the more upbeat production, relying on theatrical piano, strings and hip-hop instrumentation below Banks’s animated vocals.
At track ten, Make It Up (feat. Sampha) pulls the listener back to Banks’s signature electro-pop sound with a chopped up vocal hook from Sampha and a symphony of melodic synths. Closing the emotional narrative, the final and titular track “Off With Her Head” features highly-skilled vocal deliveries from Banks. Showcasing soulful depth and smooth falsetto transitions, she sings “It’s the end of the line. I’m just telling the truth, and I won’t compromise. And there’s nothing you can do,” in the pre-chorus. As the production fades to the (bitter) end, Banks softly sings the final lyric, “I’m sorry.”
Off With Her Head by Banks is out everywhere today. Listen to the full project below.
