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Reliably informed
Ali Welford talks to the political Teesside duo about their eyebrow-raising new direction
Image by: Tom White
Benefits’ second album Constant Noise will surprise many – just don’t mistake its replacement of blastbeats and white noise with bass-heavy dance grooves and ambient textures for a band being muted. “The anger doesn’t stop,” asserts the Teessiders’ mouthpiece, vocalist Kingsley Hall. “The shitty policies don’t stop. Wars don’t stop. Cruelty towards the public doesn’t stop. People have to be held to account, whatever colour tie they’re wearing. You’ve got to keep biting.”
“It would’ve been boring to just do [debut album] Nails Part II,” states bandmate and electronic maestro Robbie Major, on their departure from the sound behind viral assaults such as Flag, Empire and Traitors. “The themes on this record are a progression of what we’ve done before. It’s stupid to expect artists to simply limit themselves to one thing.” Kingsley concurs: “If you go into the lyrics and their intensity, I’d argue this one’s even more angry, just in a different way – it’s just less cartoonish and obvious.”
Whereas Nails’ eviscerating extremity stemmed from an impulse to counter aggressive right-wing narratives blow-for-blow, Constant Noise’s message is communicated with measure and poise. No longer ripping through his vocal chords, Kingsley nonetheless surveys a flagging nation, its poisonous discourse and bad-faith actors with undiluted candour and unflinching clarity. Neglected post-industrial towns and communities vulnerable to populist snake oil remain the principle focus, yet the likes of Lies and Fear and Missiles speak to a wider purview, broadened with reflections on foreign wars and western privilege. There’s space for outside voices too – from Middlesbrough rapper Shakk’s explosive cameo on Divide to the eerie single Relentless, featuring an unlikely appearance from formative influence Peter Doherty.
It’s Constant Noise’s sonic turns, however, which are bound to raise the most eyebrows – from the hedonistic, distinctly ‘90s-tinged grooves of Land of the Tyrants, The Victory Lap and Blame, to a ruminative closing salvo awash with ambient and avant-garde influences.
The shitty policies don’t stop. Wars don’t stop. Cruelty towards the public doesn’t stop. People have to be held to account, whatever colour tie they’re wearing. You’ve got to keep biting.
“Reminiscence and nostalgia are key themes on this album, so when I’d suggest making a song sound like The Grid, Underworld, Leftfield or whoever, it wasn’t just about the aesthetics – it was an intentional sonic decision to mirror the lyrics.” Kingsley reveals. “We all hold a rose-tainted view of our youth and bygone ages,” he continues. “The more right-wing centric mind might harken back to the Blitz, ‘when men were men’ or when they didn’t see foreigners on the street. It’s easy to be snooty about it, but left-leaning people like us do the same thing. We’ll turn on some Channel 5 documentary called Remembering Britpop, or the 00s-themed stuff they make now, and we’ll often gloss over the bullshit – the rampant misogyny, the racism, the shitty politics which were rampant at that time.”
Some targets, though, remain difficult to empathise with. “We had Prince Fucking Charles [sic] in Middlesbrough the other day,” Kingsley vents. “The council – a Labour council – decided it was time to tidy up the town. Scrub graffiti, power wash the promenade, plant flowers. Everyone knows councils are underfunded, but you can’t cry about having no money, then spring into action when this arsehole turns up for 15 minutes.”
“He should come unannounced on a random Wednesday afternoon, to see the real Middlesbrough.” Robbie suggests: “…and maybe stop charging the NHS for all that land while he’s at it.”
Benefits’ new album Constant Noise is released on Friday 21st March via Invada Records. Benefits play Middlesbrough’s Unit 41 on the same date.
