After giving us the fierce, defiant “I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend” with Doechii last year, she’s pivoting into a more haunting and introspective space with a stunning reimagining of Massive Attack’s classic Teardrop.
Produced alongside longtime collaborator Rod Castro, BANKS’ version is exactly what you’d hope for: smoky, atmospheric, and dripping with raw emotion. It honours the intimacy of the original but pushes it further into her own alt-pop, trip-hop-tinged world.
“Massive Attack has always been a deep well of inspiration for me,” BANKS says about the inspiration of her reimaging. “Their song Teardrop is one of those rare songs that stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. This version is my way of letting it move through me – a quiet homage to their brilliance, while finding space for my own voice within it.”
That voice is the centerpiece here, as BANKS sounds like she’s singing directly into your chest – airy but commanding, delicate but unflinching. The production leaves plenty of negative space, letting every breath and word carry weight. What’s exciting about this release is how it continues the arc she has been carving out recently. Where Ex-Girlfriend was bold and fashion-forward, full of biting energy, Teardrop is the shadowed other side — quiet, hypnotic, and reverent. It’s less about confrontation and more about communion.
This is BANKS in full control of her artistry: paying tribute to her influences while reshaping them into something new. For fans of her moody, downtempo work from Goddess and III, this feels like a homecoming – but one that points to even deeper, darker territory ahead.
