London based trio Benin City today release their new single "Freaking You Out". The new single follows their Moshi Moshi-released album "Last Night" in 2018, and two standalone singles in 2020 "Mess Like Me" and "Get Your Own".

Benin City believe that dance is a form of protest, and "Freaking You Out" delivers that mantra with inarguable clarity. Consisting of Joshua Idehen, Tom Leaper and Shanaz Dorsett, the trio make rousing dance-tinged electronic pop music, born from the highs and lows of London nightlife – where they initially met.

Flavoured with a variety of influences ranging from Sylvan Esso to Christine And The Queens, lyrically "Freaking You Out" is a subconscious response to a variety of cultural and political dilemmas that have reared their heads over the past year.

Speaking on the new single, Joshua Idehen said: "I wrote it as a soundtrack to Doomscrolling – a 'Doomscrolling disco', if you will. Staring at Twitter, constantly refreshing the screen for the next bit of bad news to blanket over me. Worldwide it’s felt like an even more relentless wave of bad news – especially since 2016 – and hella hard to look away or tune out. My verse is a wish that I could."

Starting life as "an 80s R&B odyssey", the trio felt it wasn't quite gelling with the other music they were writing at the time. Working alongside producer James Greenwood (Kelly Lee Owens, Daniel Avery, Ghost Culture) - Benin City quickly began to realise where it needed to go.

Adding more on how the song came to be, Tom Leaper said: "After leaving it to breathe for a couple of months we knew where we needed to take it. It still has that funky edge to it but with the analogue sounds and dance/pop arrangements that we're known for right now. James Greenwood’s “Aladdin’s cave” of hardware synths can be heard all over this. We had so much fun vibing to this and it went from outlier to dark horse banger."

"It’s a perfect collision between the type of sounds that we once boogied to together, and the anxious sentiments that we all share at the moment" singer Shanaz Dorsett added. "We have ranted in the group chat and comforted each other via Zoom a lot over the last year, and this song is like our collective ‘Oh my god! It’s all just a little too much!' (as the lyrics go.)"

With support from the likes of The Guardian, Mixmag, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, EARMILK, Pop Matters, DIY Magazine, Huw Stephens (BBC), John Kennedy (Radio X) and Tom Robinson, along with a European support tour with Portugal. The Man under their belt, Benin City have acquired a diverse and loyal set of followers, from club-goers to indie lovers to pop fans. New single "Freaking You Out" will no doubt delight across the board.