"I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" Released: October 18, 2024
"Best Friends" Released: November 22, 2024
"Love Is Unkind" Released: January 17, 2025
Off with Her Head is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Banks. It was released via ADA Worldwide on February 28, 2025. Blending alternative pop and R&B, the album explores themes of identity, self-liberation, and emotional transformation, which Banks has described as her most joyful work to date despite its dark title. Lyrically, it centers on letting go of past versions of oneself and silencing inner negativity. The project was preceded by three singles: "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" featuring Doechii, "Best Friends", and "Love Is Unkind".
The album received generally favorable reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 71 based on six reviews. Critics praised Banks's songwriting, vocal performance, and return to alt-pop and R&B roots, with The Line of Best Fit calling it "focused and commanding." Other reviewers noted the album's vulnerability, humor, and experimental elements, though some pointed to inconsistent songwriting and production.
Background
Banks released her debut studio album Goddess through Harvest Records in 2014. After two further albums with Harvest (The Altar in 2016 and III in 2019), she decided to continue her career as an independent artist.[1] Her fourth studio album Serpentina (2022), which explored a more experimental sound,[2] was her first to be released via this arrangement.[1] In late 2024, she marked the tenth anniversary of Goddess with concerts in October at venues where she had performed when it was released.[3] She also released Goddess: Unplugged, which features acoustic versions of 10 tracks from Goddess, in December.[4]
A deluxe edition of the album is scheduled for release on May 16, 2025. It will include a new track titled "Candy", which Banks described as a special song "written about a subject matter I feel liberated to be able to write about", as well as acoustic versions of "Direction", "Stay", "Meddle in the Mold", "Delulu", and "Love Is Unkind". She stated that the stripped-back versions share the same sense of freedom and honesty.[5]
Promotion
Along with the Goddess anniversary, Banks began promoting her fifth studio album. On October 18, 2024, she released "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" featuring American rapper Doechii and its music video.[6] On November 20, she officially announced the album by sharing its title, Off with Her Head, and its release date of February 28, 2025.[2] "Best Friends" was released as the album's second single on November 22.[7] It was followed by a third single, "Love Is Unkind", on January 17, 2025.[8]Off with Her Head was released on February 28, 2025, via ADA Worldwide,[9] the independent label and artist services arm of Warner Music Group.[7]
Title and composition
Banks described Off with Her Head as "a big sister to Goddess" sonically, noting that she had reunited with several producers who had contributed to her debut album.[2][7] Lyrically, she stated that it was "about shedding past identities that no longer resonate".[2] She explained that the title had several meanings related to letting go off of the "negative voice in [one's] head" and being in the present moment.[9] Despite the phrase being dark, she considers Off with Her Head to be her most joyful album to date.[9]
Songs
The short track "Guillotine" opens Off with Her Head and finds Banks "breath[ing] menacingly about putting tape on somebody's mouth".[10] In "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend", Banks and featured artist Doechii mock the titular woman over "rustily distorted bass springs".[10] The song was inspired by Banks's experience with a romantic partner's ex-girlfriend sending him a suggestive text despite knowing that he was in a relationship with Banks.[6] "Love Is Unkind" is built on a "warbly bass" and discusses an emotionally dangerous relationship.[11][8] "Delulu" features vocodered vocals and an electric guitar.[10] "Move" was compared to Cyndi Lauper's song "True Colors" and finds featured artist Yseult singing in a mix of English and French.[10] "Stay" is a "vulnerable" and "minimalistic" song inspired by Banks's happiness in a romantic relationship.[11][10][9] In "Best Friends", Banks reflects upon a friendship breakup over a "grungey-swashy guitar hook" and "looped keyboard patterns".[10] Inspired by the end of a long friendship with a woman whom she still thinks about often, it was written in part because Banks felt that the topic of friendship loss is not discussed as much as romantic breakups.[7] "Meddle in the Mold" is built on "violins and a thudding piano", while "Direction" was noted for its slurred vocals.[11] "Make It Up" featuring Sampha is "a glitchy and affecting duet that recounts the passage of time".[11] Banks and Lil Silva began writing the song in 2013, but left it unfinished for a decade until revisiting it for Off with Her Head; Banks found the lyrics to the chorus fitting.[12] "River" was compared to "Home Maker" by Sudan Archives due to its "velvety pulses" and was cited as another "vulnerable" song on the album.[11] The title track closes Off with Her Head and discusses "leaving a gaslighter".[10]
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Off with Her Head received an average score of 71 based on six reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]
In a review for The Line of Best Fit, Sam Franzini praised Banks's "varied approach to songwriting and crafting" on Off with Her Head and rated it 8/10. Deeming the album to be "some of her most unrelenting work yet", he went on to describe it as "both focused and commanding" even with its chaotic moments, which he found "charming rather than trying". He cited "Delulu", "Make It Up", "Love Is Unkind", "Move", and "River" as highlights, but was more critical towards "Meddle in the Mold" and "Direction". He also noted that the album maintains a consistently high standard, highlighting its return to Banks's alt-pop and R&B roots and describing tracks like "Delulu" and "Love Is Unkind" as solid examples of her refined sound.[11] JT Early of Beats Per Minute summarized Off with Her Head as "a fun, devastating and empowering listen that is not perfect". Though not finding it Banks's best project, he considered it a worthy addition to her discography that displays her sense of humor, her vulnerability, and her inclination towards musical experimentation. He named "Meddle in the Mold" as his favorite track. However, while he was positive towards most songs, he found many of them too short and believed that they could have been improved by adding bridges.[16]
Helen Brown of The Independent rated Off with Her Head three out of five stars. She described the album as "very sultry and atmospheric" but found it generally forgettable and lacking in focus. She wrote that "atmosphere leaks out of the speakers like dry ice before dissipating, leaving only an empty stage", citing "Guillotine" and "Move" as examples. Nevertheless, she was favorable towards "Delulu", "Stay", and the title track. She also opined that the featured artists "add some texture" to Off with Her Head and named "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" as the best collaboration on the album.[10] In a mixed review for Sputnikmusic, Benjamin Jack rated the album 2.8/5 and described it as inconsistent. He found the songwriting "uncharacteristically underwhelming" and considered the lyrical content to be too focused on the past, which he felt undermined Banks's stated intentions for the album. He was particulary critical towards "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend", considering the collaboration with Doechii to be a mismatched pairing and disruptive to the album's flow. He also found "Move" and "Direction" simultaneously too busy and too simplistic. However, he praised "Stay", "Meddle in the Mold", and the title track as the album's best moments, though he deemed them "a bittersweet reminder of what it could have been".[15]
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