More about: Banks

Everything has changed since the release of BANKS’ last album, 2019’s III. On a global scale, of course, but in BANKS’ personal world, too. The months that followed III’s release were some of the toughest the 33-year-old musician, real name Jillian Banks, had ever faced.

Just before beginning a tour in support of the album, she fractured her spine—she had to take a mattress with her to rehearsals so she could lie down as her band practised. She was then diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder, and began taking steroid shots to help her through the rest of her time on the road.

Throw a bad break-up and a pandemic into the mix, and BANKS was in desperate need of a re-set. Depression and anxiety ensued. The skin of the past needed to be shed. Enter SERPENTINA. 

On album opener ‘Misunderstood’, the chaos of the past three years spills out in less than two minutes. “Please let me be misunderstood,” BANKS commands, distorted over an increasingly erratic array of glistening synths and dramatic piano key thumps. It feels like a metaphorical tear-away from the past three years, while on single ‘Skinnydipped’, she tells us that she’s “cleaned up the salt in my wounds”. 

This is an album about starting over, about closing a chapter and opening a new one. It might be because BANKS has a bit more control this time around. During lockdown, she mastered the art of production software Ableton, taking the reins as SERPENTINA’s lead producer. It’s also her first album released under her new label, AWAL (Artists Without A Label), an offshoot of Sony that strives to give its acts more artistic independence. “I just feel more wild and free,” BANKS said of the album’s creative process.

Long-term fans needn’t fret, though: BANKS’ fourth album is by no means a wholesale reinvention, and her signature brand of brooding, gothic alt-pop-cum-R&B weaves the 13 tracks together. This time, though, it seems she’s having a bit more fun with it. Lead single ‘The Devil’ is slinky, hypnotic, and very camp, while the sexy, slithering trap-pop of ‘Fuck Love’ easily makes it one of the freshest songs of her career. “I don’t know shit about love, I keep on fuckin’ it up”, she shrugs. “Don’t wanna think about it, I’d rather drink about it”.

Recent single ‘Holding Back’ is the album’s centrepiece, its pitched, shrieking chorus giving explosive, scream-from-the-rooftops euphoria. It’s one example of where BANKS lets herself experiment with the album, be it through vocal contortion, or genre, like on gospel toe-tapper ‘Spirit’. “There’s something ‘bout the struggle that makes me wanna get back up,” she croons alongside singer-songwriter SAMOHT, reminding us of why she’s here.

As with all of BANKS’ previous offerings, there are tender moments, too. ‘Birds By The Sea’ is a gorgeous, cinematic snapshot of a former lover’s new life with a girlfriend and baby, while ‘I Still Love You’, written thirteen years ago, is an ode to the nuances of leaving a relationship behind. “I don’t know where you go on Friday nights,” she sings in barely a whisper. “I don’t know your current favourite song.”

At points, SERPENTINA slips a little too much into the comfortable spot BANKS has carved for herself with previous albums. ‘Deadend’ is all melancholic atmosphere with little substance, while ‘Anything 4 U’ passes without making a mark. ‘Unleavable’ brims with promise for the first minute, but doesn’t really go anywhere, it just drags on. There is occasionally too much looking back for an album about moving forward. 

As a whole, though, this is a dynamic, adventurous fourth offering from one of alt-pop's most consistently impressive inhabitants. “I’ve still got my mic in hand,” she sings defiantly on ‘Misunderstood', over cascading synth drums. The industry is all the better for it. 

SERPENTINA arrives 8 April via Her Name Is Banks/AWAL.

Grab your copy of the Gigwise print magazine here.

More about: Banks