Benefits - Constant Noise

“I’m looking up in awe at a mountain of shit,” begins the opening refrain of ‘Constant Noise’, in what’s perhaps the perfect metaphor for how so many of us feel right now. It’s somewhat hard to comprehend the idea that the world is a much worse place than when Benefits released their 2023 debut ‘NAILS’, and yet, here we are just two years later, collectively entering a new era of doom. Needless to say, the Teeside outfit - now slimmed down to the duo of Kingsley Hall and Robbie Major - are responding appropriately, with their newest record staring headfirst into the abyss and trying to reckon with it all. Unsurprisingly (when considering its subject matter especially), it’s an album that’s vast in scope - both musically and lyrically - with the unhinged moments of their debut pulled back in favour of more dance-orientated elements. Granted, there are still stabs of that same fury (‘Lies and Fear’ is a pummelling assault on the senses, while ‘Terror Forever’ is their agitated answer to beat poetry), but the juxtaposing of electronic beats with Kingsley’s poetic lyricism helps to create a hypnotic and, at times, existential push-and-pull of dread and release. An album that makes no bones about delving headfirst into the terror, anger and fatigue of our present day, it may not be the most lighthearted of listens, but it’s a fiercely potent and important one.