Breaking Benjamin closed 2024 with the release of a new song called “Awaken,” their first fresh material in five years. Even for a band with multiple Platinum records and #1 singles, that return can still be filled with anxiousness.
“Putting out a song for the first time in five years for us was pretty nerve-racking, I’ll tell you that much,” guitarist Jasen Rauch tells ABC Audio.
So far, it seems like Rauch needn’t have worried — “Awaken” hit #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart about two months after its premiere.
“Our fanbase is incredibly relentless and loyal through the years,” Rauch says of the song’s success.
To that end, Rauch hoped that “Awaken” would, well, awaken that fanbase.
“The pressure I speak of is more so than just the commercial success of something,” Rauch says. “But also that connection you wanna hit with your fans to reinvigorate or to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, they did it again!’ That’s the biggest compliment ever.”
“There’s some fans that maybe would like it just because it’s new music from us, but that’s not necessarily good enough for us,” he continues. “We want them to experience the same thing that they experienced on some other favorite songs from our catalog in the past, where they heard it and went, like, ‘Man, that song is so good!’ Now they’re telling their friends about it, and that was the goal.”
“Awaken” is the first single off Breaking Benjamin’s next album, the follow-up to 2018’s Ember. They launch a tour with Staind in April.