Track By Track: BINA. - SOFT RAGE
Out today, BINA.’s new record ‘SOFT RAGE’ sees the South London artist embracing every side of herself, from unfiltered frustration to unapologetic vulnerability. Built around the idea of reclaiming anger as a natural and necessary emotion, particularly for women, the project challenges the expectation to keep things sweet, stay quiet and swallow your feelings. Instead, BINA. makes space for the messy contradictions of being human, finding strength in both softness and rage.
The seeds of ‘SOFT RAGE’ can be traced back to ‘Dopamine’, taken from her previous project ‘Chaos Is Her Name’, whose fearlessness gave BINA. the confidence to push her sound and songwriting further. Drawing on the indie, rock and punk influences she’s long been drawn to, the record brings together grungy textures, live instrumentation, sharp-witted lyricism and her unmistakable, wide-ranging vocals. Following singles ‘Zombies’, ‘The Art of Anger’ and ‘R U OK’, ‘SOFT RAGE’ marks a new chapter for an artist refusing to compromise on who she is.
"This tape, despite having so many collaborators, feels cohesive because I had a very strong vision of what I wanted this tape to achieve - from the sound to the themes explored, to its place in culture,” BINA. told DMY.
We caught up with BINA. to dive into the record, track by track.
1. Send Help
"This song was the last song I finished for the tape and the most challenging. The initial ideas for melodies and production came together quickly in the first session; the theme of the song came to me easily too. But that second verse? I really had to chip away, try different flows and different angles and ultimately I went with a closer look at avoidant traits I’ve displayed when processing my emotions. It was interesting to reckon with the ways in which I may have been responsible for delaying my own healing."
2. The Art of Anger
"I wrote this song the week after a very eye-opening trip to a rage room. I went there to see if I needed a more explosive outlet for my anger, and to explore my long-suppressed rage freely and relatively safely. I learned a lot about myself, and I realised it was time to embrace my anger as a catalyst for positive change in my life and beyond; it’s not an emotion to be ashamed of, but an alarm system that can protect us and motivate change. I took a writing approach similar to that which Radiohead apparently used for their song Idioteque picked lyrics at random from previously discarded songs of mine, and put them together. It was crazy to see that I’d been chipping away at my relationship with rage subconsciously, before I even turned my attention to it fully."
3. EMERGENCY
"EMERGENCY is me announcing that I do not give f*ck anymore. I was tired of people-pleasing, being polite and understanding, and found liberation in the fantasy of being a true menace to society. It’s whimsically menacing and I love that! I deliberately opened the song with a list of adjectives people often use to instil shame in women - especially Black women - when we express rage (“moody, rude aggressive”) and then leaned into them as the verse and hook unfolded, exaggerating my impulses so that I could give myself permission to embrace my anger in the way I’d naturally express it. With sharp words. I also acknowledged the battle between nature and nurture throughout the second verse. This song is badass, and sharp and concise in its observations of the world; the bass and the overall production is so MEAN too!! It’s currently my favourite song on the album. I also love how The Art of Anger and EMERGENCY explore rage from different angles."
5. R U OK?
"This song was the result of prioritising emotional honesty over competing with myself for the next best song. I had started this song at the beginning of the year, so it was still early in the making of this page; I was still comparing myself to my last mixtape. The day I made R U OK? I’d finally laid this comparison to rest and started focussing once again on making music from a vulnerable rather than competitive space. I think it shows in the lyricism and the way I use my voice. And I think, without hyperfocusing on getting a really cool song out of me, I ended up with just that!
Collabing with Tkay Maidza was so fun, seamless and well aligned, despite the ocean between us! And I love how both our verses represent transmutation of darkness into light. I let dark thoughts come out to play, in the name of cathartic release, and Tkay’s lyrics are a kind of manifesting, a mantra affirming peace, grounding and abundance - we never lose in this battle with our intrusive thoughts or tough experiences. Two worlds colliding in the most potent way, backed by the sultry paranoia of trip-hop inspired production."
5. Money Sexy
"Money Sexy came about from a conversation JQ (Johnathan Quarmby) and I had before we even put pen to paper. I was talking to him about how much access money can give us to glamorous life experiences, but also magnify insecurities and dissatisfactions that existed before and weren’t healed by the money. It’s so funny that the song feels so light and sunny when I listen to it, but it’s also kinda dark and grotesque lyrically. I do enjoy blending light and dark together in one space. The rock ballad is new sonic texture in my discography, and I love that because it proves the point of SOFT RAGE as a concept and a philosophy: to exist and create in the most limitless way possible! The music video we made for it is also one my favourites we’ve made for this tape - it was inspired by so many things Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, dolls from Barbies to more eerie dolls; and of course the subject matter of the song itself inspired the styling choices, makeup and hair and put us pretty dolls in this wasteland where we had to reckon with the futility of trying to buy happiness and love and be… Money Sexy."
6. Upside Down
"I wrote Upside Down not long after coming back online after my broken phone rendered me disconnected. The time off my phone turned my attention more keenly to the world around me; the world offline. I started thinking about how emotionally disregulated I - and know many of us - can sometimes feel when more life happens online than off. Between social media, long distance friendships and relationships, I’d started to have this warped sense of reality and I wanted to talk about that in the song. That feeling is captured in the Side A/Side B arrangement of this song which, in the first half nods to jazz on production and finds me singing these stoic lyrics with this skeptical tone. The B-side launches into this more glam rock sound, dystopian, me belting my frustrations about the world feeling surreal, unreal and inescapably uncanny. It was cathartic to sing like that; to let my voice soar and take up space, after so much time spent singing gently and contained."
7. Anyone
"The premise of this song is simple: I had the ick. I finally had the clarity and self-love to see a former lover for what they were, which was kinda trash and very opportunistic. I spend most of the song reclaiming my power and agency over myself, snatching my love back and cutting them off, and finding peace in the fact I no longer had to deal with them. I think allowing myself to express that feeling of falling out of love, and acknowledging all the ways they were right for me help me take them off the pedestal, understand I deserve way better bring me closure."
8. Zombies
"Zombies was the song that opened the doors to the world of SOFT RAGE; it was the first song I released from the tape. At the time when the song came out, the tape was foetal; still very much being crafted, but I had a clear vision of where I wanted to go sonically, visually and thematically, so it was the perfect way to start the SOFT RAGE era. The song is another of those fun to dance to, but thematically heavy ones. We’d made this tongue-in-cheek commentary on the rat race where ambition, unfairness, ethics (or lack thereof) all collide."
'SOFT RAGE' is out now via Platoon.
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