III (Banks album)
III is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Banks. It was released on July 12, 2019, through Harvest Records. Following the release of her second album The Altar and its accompanying tour, the Altar Tour, Banks began writing material for III over a period of approximately two and a half years, primarily recording at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. During the process, she wrote around 50 songs before narrowing the track list to 13. The album was produced through close collaborations with Buddy Ross, BJ Burton, and Hudson Mohawke.
Thematically, III explores self-love, emotional growth, and personal transition, which Banks described as moving from "a girl to a wise woman". The album examines pain, intimacy, and transformation, while also engaging with cyclical ideas such as beginnings, endings, and rebirth. Musically, III has been described as an emo goth-pop and trap-pop production with an alternative R&B elements, characterized by heavy bass, spacious percussion, layered vocal processing, and frequent use of Auto-Tune.
Banks announced the album's title and release timeframe in May 2019, followed by the release of its cover artwork and track listing. The album was supported by the singles "Gimme", "Look What You're Doing to Me" and "Contaminated", as well as promotional performances and media appearances. In support of the record, Banks embarked on her third headlining concert tour, the III Tour, across North America and Europe.
Upon release, III received generally positive reviews from music critics, earning a score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic. Critics praised its cohesive atmosphere, sonic experimentation, and emotional maturity, though some offered reservations regarding its restraint and scope. Commercially, the album debuted at number 21 on the US Billboard 200 and reached number three on the Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart. It also charted in several other territories, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, and Lithuania.
Background and recording
In 2016, Banks released her second studio album, The Altar, which reached top 20 in the Billboard 200 chart. She gained 513 million on-demand streams in the United States, also appearing on several TV shows including Girls and Power. In 2017, she collaborated with American singer and songwriter 6lack in the song "In Between". After her second headlining tour, the Altar Tour, Banks kept writing songs for III in Los Angeles' Westlake Recording Studios, although she was taking a break from the music. In 2019, she revealed that she was writing the album for "two-and-a-half years".Banks revealed that she wrote approximately 50 songs during the recording process, later narrowing the tracklist down to 13. She described selecting the final songs as "hardest part" of her, stating that the chosen tracks were those that best represented "all the layers of the time of making the record". In discussing the creation of the album, she stated that the process differed from her previous albums. Banks explained that she was in "a very different place" than she had been even two years earlier, noting that she felt she had "grown more in the last year and a half" than over several preceding years. She attributed this change to having the "space and time to actually confront certain things", likening the work on the album to "changing mental scripts that are in your head". Regarding collaborators, Banks said she met producer Buddy Ross through her publishers. Ross later introduced her to BJ Burton, and the collaboration "clicked immediately". She also worked with Hudson Mohawke, whom she described as a longtime influence. Banks noted that she recorded numerous songs with these producers that did not make the final album. She emphasized that she prefers to work intensively with a small group of producers rather than collaborating with many at once.
Theme
According to Banks, III is about a "lot of self-love, learning that life is not just black and white". In a press release, Banks also shared the album's theme, saying that it's "really about this transition between a girl and a wise woman", adding, that "in between you go through pain and you learn people can lie and you learn those hard lessons that are quite painful". Expanding on this idea, Banks explained in an interview with Time that "the more experiences you have and the more pain you've gone through, the wiser you become", and likened the process of confronting harmful thought patterns to "taking a shovel and digging in the mud every day". The album was intended for "especially someone who is quite introverted in a lot of ways", which was "definitely a big adjustment".III was almost titled as Eros, referring to "the ancient Greek god of love and sex", but Banks ultimately chose the title III to convey the "beginning, middle, and end" of a part of her life. It further explores the universe's "cycle of threes" including "birth, death, and reincarnation".
Music and lyrics
Banks co-wrote every track of III, and Mark Kennedy of New Jersey Herald noted that its elements overwhelm her "warm and hypnotic vocals". The record has been described as "emo goth-pop" and "trap-pop" album, filled with "walloping bass", "spacious drum fills", and "an endless array of pitched vocal samples"; while it features "fresh, expansive atmospherics" that "toy with her usual alt-R&B stylings". The Observers Damien Morris characterized the album as moving between "trap-pop and R&B", and that its sound aligns with contemporary musical trends while retaining a distinct identity. Writing for The Independent, Roisin O'Connor found that the structure of III guides listeners through "complicated yet nuanced emotions" and that the album traces a narrative in which Banks "embraces her pain", being able to "let it go" through that process. The album reflects Banks' renewed focus on exploring the meaning of "love, life and everything else" following a period of reflection, and it continues to place emphasis on style, according to Chris Taylor from DIY. Will Hermes, an editor of Rolling Stone, noted the record emphasizes a "darker, weirder places", featuring elements such as "menacing sub-bass distortion, suspended silences, grimey organ tones and digitally-abraded vocals". Pitchforks Noah Yoo also noted that Banks "seems eager to reestablish her footing and take greater creative risks".Music critics noted Banks' vocal featured in the album; Sophie Ordaz of Slant Magazine noted that Banks employed her "most heavy-duty arsenal of sounds to date", with the assistance of producers, Buddy Ross and Hudson Mohawke. NME editor Nick Levine observed that her "darkly seductive" sound differs from Lana Del Rey's "glacial alterna-pop". AllMusic's Neil Z. Young found that the record continues Banks' "upward trajectory", including noticeable improvements in both her vocals and production value. Some critics compared Banks' sounds to her fellow artists; Aimee Cliff from The Guardian noted that III incorporates "streaming-friendly electronic soul ballads" alongside "post-Kanye West maximalist pop". Morris said the album features "layered, subtle sound" like Bon Iver and Billie Eilish, while Banks also brings "a rare, steely delicacy all her own". They also noted the album's Auto-Tune sounds; Morris highlighted IIIs frequent use of a "ghostly Auto-Tune choir", describing it as "sighing and whispering encouragement" behind Banks' "increasingly empowered words". Cliff observed that while Banks is often associated with "Auto-Tune-heavy ballads", the album includes tracks where her vocals are presented more openly, which allows her "unaffected vocal" to run free. Writing for MXDWN, Mark Young noted on the opening track "Till Now" that Banks "sings a little six-note tune over and over with Auto-Tune, while warped, monster vocals are gradually layered on".
Lyrically, III features "intricate production details" alongside "semi-cryptic lyrics" that become more apparent with repeated listens. It also presents "a wiser version" of her, with lyrics that focus on "longing, love, and loss". According to Clash, the album's lyrics are "as direct as ever", since Banks "isn't afraid to share her feelings with listeners". Harper's Bazaars Amy Mackelden noted that the evolution, which Banks described as a "transition between a girl and a wise woman", is significant on III, particularly in its lyrical progress. She contrasted Banks' earlier lyric, "to think you would get me to the altar..." with the line "You are my God, my God, and when you're gone, I'm godless", describing Banks as being "in a constant state of genuflection".