Album Review: BANKS – Off With Her Head
2 min read
Alternative pop artist Banks has been around for longer than most may realise. Beginning in the early 2010’s, she garnered a reputation for crafting dark, introspective, and synth-heavy tunes, her dedication culminating in the underdog hit Beggin For Thread. Her subsequent album have achieved millions of streams, her last album 2022’s Serpentina seeing success with songs like Holding Back and The Devil. Her unique style and need to experiment has led to this latest release Off With Her Head.
Guillotine kills off the album, its ominous synths and atmospheric backing vocals coming to a climax of abrasive but tuneful noise. It’s over just as quickly as it’s started, leading into I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend. Brash, groovy, and with a great verse from Doechii, it’s easy to see why this was a great pick for a single, and to officially kick off the album. Love Is Unkind moves into more familiar sonic territory for Banks, pounding bass and a solid drum beat carrying the airy vocals perfectly. It flows seamlessly into Delulu, a passionate mid-tempo song about being delusional in a relationship. Banks voice sounds particularly great in this one, raw and warm. There’s also some excellent guitar work weaved in between the layers of synth and keys. Move feels more stripped back, light on the sub but packed with vocal effects, some contributed by French singer Yseult.
Both Stay and Best Friends continue the breeziness, the former with considerate percussion and a delicate vocal, mixing with rough piano and multiple panned guitar lines. The latter builds up to a reserved finish, taking the time to breath. Meddle In The Mould begins with a wonderful string arrangement that gives a vaudeville energy from the first note. A choir comes in later into the track, and Banks does her utmost to mix a contemporary pop melody and slot it into this classically inclined instrumental. The final result is one of the most inventive, and divisive songs on the whole album. River and Make It Up featuring Sampha bring the groove back, while closer Off With Her Head takes a more clear-cut power-pop approach, chugging guitars à la Lose Yourself, before petering out.
As far as Banks’ catalogue is concerned, Off With Her Head can easily be seen as her roughest but most experimental album. Its fast runtime, array of sounds, samples, and singers, and echoes of her previous release will entice and entrance regular listeners, and newer audience members will find something to sink their teeth into.
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Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
