This Week’s Best New Music: April 2023 Week 4

Album of the week

Benefits – Nails

Warning no. 1: This is an extremely political album. If you don’t like to hear people ‘talking down Britain’, then this probably isn’t for you. Although, if that’s the case, you’re probably the most in need of hearing it (which is alluded to in Meat Teeth; as hard-hitting as this may be, there’s a recognition that this may just be a case of preaching to the converted).

Warning no. 2: This isn’t an easy listen. You know how easy listening is a recognised genre? Well surely the opposite of that is hard or difficult listening. Yet that sort of thing always gets dressed up as experimental, noise music, or whatever. But nah; this is hard listening. And that’s precisely the point.

If I can briefly make this about myself, I feel like I probably summed things up best in my previous single review, so I’m conscious of repeating myself (is difficult 2nd review syndrome a thing?) But actually that seems fitting because repetition is a key theme, or even technique, which is used throughout Nails.

“The repetition of mistakes” as it’s put in Mindset. It acts like holding up a mirror to the last ten years of political discourse (and really beyond that). Like how the same talking points get drilled into you – from politician’s mouths, to newspaper pages, and then from people you actually know. Like the bad-news-cycle of unrelenting shitness. It’s the feeling that you’ve seen it all before, yet it continues to happen, and the ensuing frustration and helplessness. The disillusionment because it all seems so obvious but people fall for it again. And it’s those feelings which Benefits want to smash through.

Another key theme is that of repressed rage, always bubbling away under the surface. Musically, it reveals itself in visceral howls and blasts of noise; like an ugly wall of sound. But again it’s representing something wider about the psyche of a nation. Anger at the world you see around you, and how that then becomes mis-directed and released in futile outbursts, like the road rage flashpoint described on Empire.

If I’m making this all sound a bit bleak, well it kind of is, but again that’s kind of the point. And that’s not the whole story as the album is injected with moments of dark humour, and ultimately, the album is trying to spread some positivity out of the gloom. As set out on opener, Marlboro Hundreds which almost acts as the album’s mission statement; “don’t let them break you”.

I feel like I’ve barely mentioned how the album actually sounds. Benefits have certainly proved they’re more than a one-trick-pony here as amongst the noise there’s plenty of minimalist electro interjected, which works well to balance things out, always providing some calm before or after the storm. And they even give a flash of sweet melancholia on closer, Council Rust. As a purely musical experience it arguably runs slightly long given the repetition of certain ideas and lines. But this really shouldn’t be taken as a purely musical experience. It’s almost like a performance art piece; it’s part warning, part wake-up call, part catharsis, maybe even therapeutic.

I could keep going on for much longer, but I’ll try to wrap this up at a reasonable length. It’s a rare occasion when I write about an album and have a load of unused notes (and they were good notes as well). I will just throw in a couple of random thoughts “overdosed on your own stubbornness” is a great line and petition for Flag to be the official anthem of the coronation.

I’m not sure how much I’ll go back to the album longer term (like, it’s hardly one I’m gonna play on a family car journey), but it’s such a powerful statement that it already has the potential to go down as a classic. You almost hope this will feel dated in another ten years. But, unfortunately, the lesson of the album suggests it probably won’t be. “The repetition of mistakes”

Best tunes: Marlboro Hundreds, Flag, Council Rust

Side-note: North-East readers – is that the first documented used of ‘radgey’ in a song on Shit Britain? Surely it’s been used by an MC at some point. Let me know any alternative suggestions. (For non North-East readers – ‘radgey’ is probably best described as a noun for a crazy/angry person or an adjective for crazy/angry behaviour)

Tunes of the week

Magnetic Spacemen – I love u for the love

You’ll be pleased to see there’s no real deep analysis on this one. While Benefits offer a kind of visceral rawness with their sound, it’s very deliberately constructed to convey their message. When I say this song is raw, it’s because it’s indie rock in its purest form. It captures excitement, youthful exuberance, expressions of pure feeling, and much more, without ever actually having to say much within its four minutes. That’s pretty much rock n roll at its best for me.

Magnetic Spacemen are a four-piece from Zwolle, Holland, who already have one album to their name. They’re a new discovery for me, but on the strength of this I’ll have to check out more of their back catalogue. They have that garage rock sound that isn’t exactly lo-fi, but where there’s just enough feedback hanging about that it manages to feel carefree and reckless. And there’s an excellent vocal performance that’s laid-back yet strained, like he’s probably had a heavy one the night before. It actually doesn’t sound too far off Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott at times.

That cover art is terrible though, sorry lads.

emzae – I Guess, Anyway

I remember listening to Tamsin Archer’s Sleeping Satellite on car journey’s when I was young. I didn’t know what the song was until years later, but it always stuck with me. It’s a pretty excellent soulful pop song; but it’s got this entrancing quality, which I still can’t quite do justice in words 30 years later. It’s probably one of my first memories of really connecting with music beyond it being something you sing along to.

All of this is to say; I get a very similar vibe from emzae’s I Guess, Anyway. There’s actually a hint of Sleeping Satellite’s sound in the verses here, with that slightly spacey production style, although this is a lot more introspective in nature. It’s an excellent pop song in its own right though, and even at almost six minutes it manages not to feel long.

It’s a reflection on mental health struggles, touching on the little wins of a good day like “walks through the park” and “wearing a new shirt”. I think straightforward, blunt lyrics like this can easily end up sounding a bit crap, so it’s testament to both emzae’s songwriting and vocals that it works so well here.

Speaking of vocals, the performance feels fairly restrained for the most part. But there’s just a brief moment towards the conclusion where her voice goes off key at the mention of a party. It’s an excellent touch which manages to convey the sense of importance in that lyric better than any belted-out chorus could.

Bit of a potential star in waiting here.

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