Benefits Constant Noise

Critic's Take

Benefits make Constant Noise sound like an apocalyptic rave, where the best tracks - “Continual” and “Lies And Fear” - marry social fury with dark euphoria. Hayley Scott's voice leans into jagged political observation and celebratory noise, praising Kingsley Chapman as he polishes speak-singing into urgent club poetry. The record’s standout moments come when its 1990s technicolour machines meet caustic tirade, turning tracks like “Continual” into rallying cries and “Burnt Out Family Home” into a necessary reflective pause. This is an album that wants to shout back at the pixelated void even as it invites you to dance.

Key Points

• The best song, “Continual”, is best for turning political fury into a club-ready, speak-sung rallying cry.
• The album’s core strength is marrying 1990s club technicolour machinery with direct, politicised lyricism to provoke and unite.

Themes

Critic's Take

Benefits move into bracing new territory on Constant Noise, and the best songs here - notably “Missiles” and “Land Of The Tyrants” - show why the album works. The reviewer's voice admires how danceable four-to-the-floor beats sit against moral outrage, making “Missiles” the emotional centrepiece while “Land Of The Tyrants” marries political barbs to an almost woozy electronic pulse. There is grit retained from Nails in tracks like “Lies And Fear”, but it is the restrained, euphoric anger of the record that makes these songs stand out. Overall, Constant Noise thrives where it turns fury into collective, cinematic energy rather than mere racket.

Key Points

• The best song, "Missiles", is the emotional centrepiece because it combines hushed resignation with escalating, glorious soundscapes.
• The album’s core strength is turning political anger into euphoric, collective dance music that feels cinematic and purposeful.

Themes

Critic's Take

Austra's Chin Up Buttercup is a bruised but buoyant record that makes its best case with songs like “Math Equation” and “Good Riddance” - Katie Stelmanis layers richly textured vocals over ecstatic, Madonna-like electronica while skewering heartbreak with dry wit. The reviewer's voice lingers on the clever lines and punchy melodies, celebrating how the title track's sarcasm and the bittersweet calm of “Good Riddance” turn devastation into catharsis. Equally notable are the tender opener “Amnesia” and the ambient sweep of “The Hopefulness of the Dawn”, which together show the album's range from dance-floor anthems to floating, elegiac endings.

Key Points

• Good Riddance stands out as the cathartic, floaty finale that turns heartbreak into consoling release.
• The album's core strength is its fusion of upbeat electronica and mordant, witty lyrics that make heartbreak feel energizing.

Themes

Critic's Take

Benefits confront the present with a glare on Constant Noise, and the reviewer's voice lands on the album's most potent moments - the title track and “Lies and Fear”. The opening line, where Kingsley sings "I’m looking up in awe at a mountain of shit," sets the tone for why “Constant Noise” feels like the best track, a perfect metaphor for our collective dread. Meanwhile “Lies and Fear” is called out as a "pummelling assault on the senses," making it another standout on lists of the best songs on Constant Noise. The record's mix of dance-oriented electronics and raw fury explains why listeners asking for the best tracks on Constant Noise will repeatedly land on those two songs.

Key Points

• The title track “Constant Noise” is best for its opening metaphor and tonal framing of the album.
• The album's core strengths are its fusion of electronic beats with raw lyrical fury, producing a hypnotic, urgent record.

Themes

Critic's Take

Benefits return with Constant Noise, an album that finds hope amid rot by sharpening its club-tinged noise into anthemic clarity. Chapman’s lyricism - from the haunted restraint of “Constant Noise” to the anguished thrust of “Land Of The Tyrants” - gives the record its moral backbone while tracks like “Continual” become unabashed centrepieces. The band’s 1990s-styled reveries and sermon organs fold into songs that feel both exhausted and fiercely determined, making the best tracks on Constant Noise pulse with defiant empathy. This is a sophomore statement that turns previous nihilism into a mapped-out plan for communal repair.

Key Points

• “Continual” is the best song for its masterful synth sculpting and emotional weight, marked as the album’s centrepiece.
• The album’s core strengths are Chapman’s lyrical clarity and the band’s fusion of 1990s club nostalgia with urgent political commentary.

Themes

Critic's Take

Benefits' new record Constant Noise shows how evolution can sharpen rather than soften, with the best tracks proving the claim. The review highlights “Blame” as a standout for its groove-heavy, Underworld/Leftfield-tinged electronics and “Divide” for its enraged, uplifting collab energy. The quieter closing pair, including “The Brambles” and “Burnt Out Family Home”, display the album's newfound sonic depth and mesmerising restraint. Overall, the best songs on Constant Noise balance fury and finesse in ways that make the album feel more enveloping and at times beautiful in its mannered rage.

Key Points

• “Blame” is best for its successful fusion of groove-heavy electronic palettes with confrontational punk energy.
• The album balances political fury and personal reflection, expanding the band’s sound into immersive electronic and cinematic textures.

Themes

Critic's Take

In a tone that never softens, Benefits push their new record Constant Noise into uneasy, thrilling territory where the best songs - “Blame”, “Divide” and “Dancing On The Tables” - work as both dancefloor bangers and political statements. Christopher Sneddon’s review finds the title track’s moody soundscape surprising, but it is the punchy, Faithless-esque stomp of “Blame” and the jagged collaborations on “Divide” that mark the album’s highlights. The reviewer’s voice is blunt and admiring, noting memorable static jams and catchy shifts toward EDM and techno that make the best tracks stand out. Ultimately, for listeners asking "best tracks on Constant Noise", the record’s most immediate thrills are exactly where the band leans hardest into rhythm and spite.

Key Points

• Blame is the best song because it is described as a "pounding Faithless-esque banger" and is recommended to listen to.
• The album’s core strengths are its aggressive sonic palette and successful shift into EDM, techno and memorable static jams.

Themes