III

III is Banks’s most cohesive album to date because she’s no longer restricting herself to exploring one feeling at a time.

Banks clearly encouraged them [her collaborators] to swing for the fences: The distressed sonics her get as extreme as Low got on last year’s Double Negative, albeit in much different context. It’s thrilling, gutting stuff.

Her most accomplished statement to date, a collection brimming with emotion, attitude, and unexpected delights.

Although III doesn't offer anything to rival [2014's Beggin For Thread] in songwriting stakes, it does manage to mine thrills from an adventurous production. [Aug 2019, p.108]

iii is probably a couple of tracks too long, but Banks has created another supremely intriguing musical world filled with ear-snagging lyrics and quirky production flourishes: the lone dog-bark sound effect before the final chorus of ‘Gimme’ is a classic Banks touch. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion “that bitch” is a pretty apt description for her after all.

Overall, Banks has taken a step forward in her development as an artist, and you can hear this increase in maturity across each album. At times, her evolution is not as convincing as other artists on her level, though the quality of the songwriting here generally makes up for that.

III is definitely a progression for her as an artist. The more upbeat tracks are interspersed among softer, more delicate, heartfelt ones that represent the duality of her personality and also increase its replay value.