DEAD LETTER CIRCUS – Special Guests: Siamese & Daze of June

If the personal really is political, then Dead Letter Circus’s self-titled album – their fourth full-length of all-new original material, but fifth overall – may well be the band’s most political statement to date. For a group that has, on previous records, taken a strong ethical stance on issues such as fracking, Dead Letter Circus strikes at the heart of what makes humans tick, and the insecurities and psychological foibles that can make us all so fragile.“When it comes to my lyrics I’ve generally always presented the evolved version of myself that has learned the lesson the song was written about,” offers frontman Kim Benzie of the LP’s overarching lyrical themes. “I guess this album kind of completes the picture by revealing the mental state those lessons often begin from. I never intentionally set out to write with a message in mind, I just let it happen, and this one came out super raw and personal.
“Some events in the past couple of years really opened my eyes to the danger of keeping your fragilities hidden, particularly for males,” he adds. “We don’t exist in a society that supports unconditional happiness, and if you don’t fit what is offered, the isolation and guilt can lay deep roots. I was very lucky to stumble into music, which became my personal ladder to climb out of the darkness. As we wrote our way through the album I noticed the recurring theme spilling from song to song acknowledging the wide spread mental health problem and shouting that there is hope.”