Benefits share ‘Divide’: “A punk song about society at war with itself”
Benefits have shared a brand-new single called ‘Divide’ – you can listen to it below.
The track serves as the latest preview of Teesside punk duo’s second studio album ‘Constant Noise’, which is due for release on March 21 via Invada (pre-order/pre-save here).
Featuring guest vocals from Middlesbrough rapper Shakk, the song sees the band combine the heavier sensibilities of their earlier material with their electronically-driven new style. ‘Divide’ also boasts “hyperactive club rhythms and Berghain-heavy basslines”, per a press release.
Lyrically, Benefits delve into the divisive state of the UK and the world at large.
“Divide is a punk song about society at war with itself over every conceivable issue,” explained frontman Kingsley Hall. “It’s angry about everything from war, inequality, misplaced patriotism and poverty; to greed and the industrialisation and monetisation of hate.”
He continued: “It’s an attempt to bring together everything that Benefits in 2025 represents, both sonically and lyrically. We wanted to merge heavy electronica, traditional punk and protest, to create an assault on the senses in the best possible way.
“Along with producer James Adrian Brown, we threw beat after beat at it and brought in our friend Shakk to add pure fire and heart. It’s a piece about division but done in the spirit of unity.”
‘Divide’ is accompanied by an official video featuring Shakk. The visuals cut between the band talking about the journey they have been on and discussing their new album, and performance footage of the song.
Benefit’s latest single follows on from the tracks ‘Missles’, ‘Land Of The Tyrants’ and ‘Relentless’ – the latter of which features Pete Doherty of The Libertines.
The duo are set to embark on a UK headline tour in April. Last November, they announced that they would be making the upcoming shows more accessible for fans by implementing both a price cap at £12 per ticket and enforcing a 10pm curfew. Find any remaining tickets here.
Next month, Benefits will play a run of UK in-store gigs to celebrate the release of ‘Constant Noise’. You can buy tickets for those here.
During an interview with NME at Glastonbury 2023, Benefits spoke about what to expect from the follow-up to their acclaimed debut album, ‘Nails’.
“The point of the band originally was to react to current urgencies: political, social or whatever,” Kingsley Hall explained […] “We’re still writing all the time, but we need to get this done as soon as possible. The point of us was to be urgent and to be quick. That’s why the songs are so fast.”
Hall went on to talk about how bringing former Mogwai and current Texas live drummer Cat Myers into the band had “changed things”, and how each member provides “different influences”.
He told NME: “We have varied tastes […] There would be nothing more boring than our album if it was just to appease one type of person. We’ve had 6 Music Dad fans, Louder Than War readers, I want us to play Download because we have metal fans too.”
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Tom Skinner
NME
