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Williams + Hirakawa

BANKS has officially entered her fourth album era.

On Friday, she released her new song "Holding Back," which she premiered Thursday night with a performance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The song is accompanied by confirmation of the singer's fourth studio album, which is indeed called Serpentina. It's coming on April 8 via AWAL.

Fans have known for some time the album title. Last summer, BANKS returned with her song "The Devil," and many laser-focused viewers of the video noticed the word "Serpentina" replacing the name "California" on the license plate of a vehicle featured in the clip.

According to BANKS, “Serpentine” was a word she remembered doodling in her school journals, while the “a” at the end represents a feminization of that idea—an embodiment of a kind of snake queen, as she describes it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePQSFbiv8DE

“Snakes represent rebirth and the shedding of one's skin,” she says. “They just move on, and I think that's what life is about. Changing and transforming, with a little bit of danger, but also smooth and silky. It just felt like the perfect representation. This album feels regal to me, but also my most human ever. So I think it kind of touches both ends of the spectrum.”

Check out "Holding Back" now.