Synopsis

Benin City's "Faithless" follows a man locked in a losing battle with his own mind. As his inner turmoil intensifies, he runs from the consequences of his thoughts while struggling to hold on to his sense of control. The video's restless energy mirrors the song's clash between fear and defiance, with the repeated call to put two fingers in the air turning the character's crisis into a gesture of resistance. Its dark narrative is set against the band's urgent electro, bass and kwaito-influenced sound.

Factoids & Trivia

• Joshua Idehen said the song was inspired by a documentary about boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and the damage he carried after his career. The image of "a man and his madness" became the starting point for a broader narrative about personal fears and frustration.

• "Faithless" began with a strong kwaito influence before Benin City and producer Marc Pell sped up the tempo and expanded the arrangement. The finished track combines electronic production with bass, rock, live drums, saxophone and trombone.

• Most of the album production took place in Brixton, where Tom Leaper lived at the time. Idehen also drew lyrical inspiration from traveling across London, describing the city's changing landscapes and unusual encounters as a source of ideas.

• The video appeared in May 2013, shortly before the single's June release through Audio Doughnuts and the July arrival of Benin City's debut album, "Fires in the Park."

• The single was accompanied by remixes from Zed Bias, Marcel Lune and Slugabed, extending the track's club-oriented character into several different electronic directions.

• The song's tension between mental collapse and physical release became a useful introduction to Benin City's genre-blurring approach. Contemporary coverage described the band as moving between jazz, funk, indie, dub, hip-hop, electronica and kwaito rather than fitting neatly into one category.