[Photo courtesy of Banks]
Before Banks’ second record, The Altar, was even announced, she started dropping some amazing music videos. The video for “Better” came out on the eve of the album announcement, hyping up her return after a two and a half year lull in music. This marked the beginning of a new artistic period for the California native, and the video for her latest single, “Trainwreck,” is no exception.
Banks revealed in an interview with Idolator that she wrote some of the lyrics for “Trainwreck” at fourteen years old. She added, “Those were some of the first lyrics I ever wrote! So I knew that there would be a home for those lyrics at some point… It was like a chant. I always remember those lyrics, though. There are some lyrics that I’ve written that I always will remember.”
This video is one of Banks’ strongest, depicting a relationship gone wrong, simultaneously with a person and with the music industry. Banks is repeatedly fighting masked men that force her to do what they want in front of the camera, making her a puppet when she’s trying to do her own art. The lyrics describe a relationship that’s unhealthy, and that has reached the point where Banks can no longer help the person, nor make him happy anymore. The video mirrors a strong sentiment that the same has happened in the music industry: Banks isn’t interested in trying to please anyone anymore. She’s doing her own thing at any cost.
Check out the full video below, and if you want to see the entire album come to life, grab tickets to catch Banks live at Showbox SoDo on April 18th here.
ANNA KAPLAN | Aquarius Feed | KXSU Music Reporter