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 *Off With Her Head*. Jillian Banks’ follow-up to 2022’s *Serpentina* 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, *Goddess*. 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 *Off With Her Head*’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.”

A BANKS record is always a bit chaotic, but Off With Her Head is both focused and commanding.

The album’s title nods to the psychology graduate’s determination to bypass her head and write straight from her body, heart and soul, yet the Los Angeles artist sounds oddly detached