III (Banks album)

III is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Banks, released on July 12, 2019, by Harvest Records. It was preceded by the release of three singles, "Gimme", "Look What You're Doing to Me", and "Contaminated". The album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200.

Background
Banks revealed the album name along with its release month in an interview with Billboard, published on May 24, 2019. The album was almost titled Eros, but Banks chose the name III to convey the "beginning, middle, and end" of a part of her life. The album cover was revealed on May 30, 2019. She released the track listing on Twitter on June 11. Banks began The III Tour in support of the album in September 2019.

Singles
"Gimme" was released as the album's lead single on April 29, 2019, and debuted on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show. The song was written by Banks and Josiah Sherman and produced by BJ Burton, Hudson Mohawke and Kito.

"Look What You're Doing to Me" was released as the album's second single on June 11, 2019, along with a lyric video, and features American pop project Francis and the Lights.

"Contaminated" was released as the album's third single on July 10, 2019. Banks released a sample of the track as well as the release date on July 9, 2019.

Critical reception
III received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 11 reviews. Narzra Ahmed of Clash stated "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". Rhys Harding of The Line of Best Fit commented, "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".

From NME, Nick Levine concluded that "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". Will Hermes of Rolling Stone wrote, "Banks clearly encouraged them [her collaborators] to swing for the fences: The distressed sonics get as extreme as Low got on last year's Double Negative, albeit in much different context. It's thrilling, gutting stuff". Roisin O'Connor from The Independent viewed III as "Banks's most cohesive album to date because she's no longer restricting herself to exploring one feeling at a time".

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of III.

Musicians

 * Banks – vocals
 * BJ Burton – synthesizers (tracks 1–4, 7, 10, 12); drums (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12); programming (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 12); drum programming (tracks 2, 5, 10); arrangement (tracks 2, 11); guitar (tracks 3, 4, 10, 12); piano (track 3); bass (track 4)
 * Sohn – synthesizers (tracks 1, 5, 7); bass (track 1); drums (track 5)
 * Hudson Mohawke – synthesizers, drum programming (track 2); 808 bass; programming (track 11)
 * Mark McGee – programming (track 3)
 * Jake Hanson – guitar (track 3)
 * Ben Lester – pedal steel guitar (tracks 3, 4, 12)
 * Trevor Hagen – trumpet (track 3)
 * Nick Sanborn – synthesizers, bass (track 4)
 * Lazerbeak – programming (track 4)
 * Buddy Ross – keyboards (tracks 6, 9, 13); bass (tracks 6, 9, 10, 13); drums (tracks 6, 8–10, 12); piano (tracks 8, 13); Wurlitzer, strings (track 8); synthesizers (tracks 8, 10, 12); string arrangement (track 13)
 * Jake Luppen – electric guitar (track 6)
 * Chais Kinder – electric guitar (track 6); drums, synthesizer (track 10)
 * Aliyah Hernandez – vocals (track 6)
 * Jami Hernandez – vocals (track 6)
 * Francis Farewell Starlite – vocals, piano, table drums (track 7)
 * Paul Epworth – keyboards, bass (track 8)
 * Aron Forbes – acoustic guitar (track 11)
 * Rob Moose – string arrangements (tracks 11, 12); strings (track 12)
 * Simon Edward Christensen p/k/a Psymun – drum programming (claps), vocal chop/background (track 11)
 * JT Bates – drums (track 12)
 * Georgie Banks Feil – vocals (track 13)
 * Owen Pallett – string arrangement, violin, viola (track 13)
 * Amy Laing – cello (track 13)

Technical

 * BJ Burton – production (tracks 1, 3–5, 7, 10–12); vocal production (tracks 1, 3, 4, 12); engineering (tracks 1–5, 7, 11, 12); additional production (tracks 2, 8); executive production
 * Sohn – additional production (track 1); production (track 5)
 * Hudson Mohawke – production, engineering (track 2); co-production (track 11)
 * Kito – co-production (track 2)
 * Ross Birchard – engineering (track 2)
 * Buddy Ross – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 8–10, 13); production (tracks 6, 8–10, 13); additional production (track 12)
 * Aron Forbes – engineering (tracks 3, 11, 12); vocal production (tracks 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13); additional production (track 11)
 * Sam Tusa – engineering assistance (tracks 3, 4, 6, 12, 13)
 * Tim Anderson – vocal production (track 4)
 * Jesse Ward – production (track 5)
 * Tom Kahre – engineering (tracks 5, 9)
 * Nathaniel Alford – engineering (tracks 5, 10); vocal production (track 10)
 * John DeBold – engineering assistance (tracks 6, 13)
 * Francis Farewell Starlite – production (track 7)
 * Paul Epworth – co-production (track 8)
 * Luke Pickering – engineering assistance (track 8)
 * Psymun – co-production (track 11)
 * Jillian Banks – executive production
 * Tom Elmhirst – mixing
 * Brandon Bost – engineering for mix
 * Huntley Miller – mastering (tracks 1–12)
 * Randy Merrill – mastering (track 13)

Artwork

 * J & Associates – artwork
 * Steph Wilson – photography

Setlist

 * 1) "Till Now"
 * 2) "Fuck with Myself" (From the artist's second studio album, The Altar)
 * 3) "Stroke"
 * 4) "Drowning" (From the artist's debut album, Goddess)
 * 5) "Waiting Game" (From the artist's debut album, Goddess)
 * 6) "Ode to the Grey Zone" (From the artist's poetry book)
 * 7) "Contaminated"
 * 8) "Hawaiian Mazes"
 * 9) "Alaska"
 * 10) "Propaganda"
 * 11) "Poltergeist" (From the artist's second studio album, The Altar)
 * 12) "Underdog" (A non-album single)
 * 13) "Sawzall"
 * 14) "If We Were Made of Water"
 * 15) "This Is What It Feels Like" (From the artist's debut album, Goddess)
 * 16) "Godless"
 * 17) "The Fall"
 * 18) "Gimme"
 * 19) "Gemini Feed"
 * 20) "Beggin for Thread" (From the artist's debut album, Goddess)