Off With Her Head

Even when she’s rejecting therapists’ advice and flipping the bird to exes’ exes, BANKS sounds positively revitalized on her fifth studio album <i>Off With Her Head</i>. Jillian Banks’ follow-up to 2022’s <i>Serpentina</i> largely jettisons the smoky balladry that marked its predecessor in favor of sharp, skipping electro-pop—representing something of a full-circle back to her star-making 2014 debut, <i>Goddess</i>. The callback is more than skin-deep, as BANKS brings back several key collaborators from her early days—including UK dance impresarios like Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Lil Silva, as well as moody alt-R&B auteur SOHN—to pitch in when it comes to <i>Off With Her Head</i>’s sonically multifarious production. A few new friends join in, too: Sampha’s unmistakable vocals mark the pulsing pop of “Make It Up,” while the ascendant rap superstar Doechii brings her fiery personality on “I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend” with unmistakable lyrical bon mots like “Wrap a bow around your coffin like it’s Christmas.”