British singer-songwriter Asha Banks has struck chords with audiences on the screen, starring in projects such as My Fault: London. Now, Banks is returning to her first true love: making authentic, personal music that's already found a home within thousands of fans. Having written her first song at just six years old, music has always been at the core of who she is.

Banks' most recent EP, How Real Was It?, invites the listener into the deepest and most personal parts of her memories. Accompanied by production by Josh Bruce Williams, How Real Was It? lingers on fading memories and emotions.

The title of the EP came to Banks while writing "Done Is Done," tying into the theme of self-interrogation and doubt featured on the project. "It sort of encapsulates a theme that runs throughout all of the songs, but also kind of a theme that runs through my life," Banks shared, explaining that her restless self-interrogation—Was it real? Am I processing this correctly? What lingers?—runs through every track.

Taking inspiration from artists like Johnny Cash to Lizzy McAlpine and Novo Amor, How Real Was It?'s soundscape is both intimate and grand at the same time. Banks' voice sits perfectly on top of each song, creating an environment that sounds like she's singing directly to the listener. Songs like "Mascara Tears" showcase her talent for raw vulnerability, while "Rerun" showcases Banks' ability to bring unexpected brightness to reflective lyrics. "Delay," co-written with Taylor Mackall, poured out of Banks on a day she simply needed to process, and a song that captures the EP's emotional honesty at its purest.

Banks' acting background informs her songwriting in unexpected ways. "I'm so used to dissecting somebody else and trying to figure out their rhyme and reason for everything," she explained. "And now I can kind of use those tools for myself." The constant character work made returning to her own perspective feel more urgent, giving her frameworks for excavating her own psyche.

What she's chasing, ultimately, is connection. After sold-out US headline dates in Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, and New York last December, Banks is gearing up for a spring European and UK run. The tour culminates at London's Roundhouse on March 15, her biggest headline show yet, with support from Alfie Jukes and Liang Lawrence.

"Connection has just become my north star," Banks said. "Seeing people connect to the music and coming to shows and finding other people... the community building is truly one of my favorite parts." She's found that her most vulnerable lyrics, the ones that scared her to write, resonate loudest. Her fans, affectionately called "the shippers," have built their own creative community around her music, showing up to shows in coordinated outfits and spiral necklaces (a nod to the EP's cyclical themes).

How Real Was It? is available everywhere via Island Records. If you're drawn to artists who write like they're keeping a journal and sing like they're sharing secrets, Asha Banks’ world is one worth stepping into.

ASHA BANKS GETS HONEST ON LATEST EP ‘HOW REAL WAS IT?’

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