Since her gothy 2014 single Beggin For Thread (to sew this hole up that you ripped in my head), Jillian Banks has stepped with a vanguard steering pop from butterflies and rainbows towards darker, weirder places. She doubles down on III, suggesting Billie Eilishs graver older sis with a timely set full of menacing sub-bass distortion, suspended silences, grimey organ tones and digitally-abraded vocals. Its a snow-globe of tainted love that makes the apocalyptic outside world seems near- manageable by comparison, a public service for that alone.
Banks is up for the fight, as the single Gimme makes plain, the singer dripping for your love and suggesting her lover lick it from the ground (she adds, helpfully, You can call me that bitch). Hudson Mohawkes deep-space production magnifies the narrative mindfuck, as do her other collaborators, an emo r&b Whos Who including Buddy Ross (Frank Ocean), BJ Burton (Bon Iver) and Sohn. Banks is clearly swinging for the avant-pop fences here: The distressed sonics get as extreme as Low got on last years Double Negative, albeit in much different context. Its thrilling, emotionally gutting stuff.
Banks can still play nice: Look What Youre Doing To Me is an upbeat jam suggesting a more psychedelic Whitney Houston that matches her up with Francis and The Lights. Hawaiian Mazes and What About Love are Quiet Storm jams for the Rihanna era, with melodies sketched on keyboards, flickers of strings, and patches of musique concrete. Chill and sweet, they dont necessarily suggest an improvement in her romantic situation, just in her attitude. Sometimes the best you can ask for.