Video: Eddie Benjamin Releases New Single and Music Video 'Maniac'

Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Benjamin crashes into 2025 with “MANIAC,” the piano-pounding lead single from his upcoming debut studio album. The startlingly dynamic track comes with a cinematic video that’s equal parts intense performance piece and mini horror flick. The video, directed by Mitch deQuilettes (Childish Gambino, shygirl], made its broadcast premiere on MTV Live, MTVU and MTV Biggest Pop.

Inspired by processing the grief that comes with the conclusion of a relationship, “MANIAC” captures the sense of a sudden ending. “You treat me like a maniac, how do you lose that love so fast?” Eddie coos amid surprising cascades of piano, peals of guitar, warm bass runs, and percussive keys all played by the artist himself— a rock/soul/jazz whirlwind that flirts with chaos with bounds of pop balladry. The track’s passion is matched by the video, which finds Eddie playing a baby grand in a low-lit room while a dancer’s wild choreography takes an incredibly dark turn.

The song sets the stage for a full-length album due later in 2025, a coming-of-age set of songs that deals with relationships, loss, grief, and the innate need for authentic human connection.

“Losing someone was the start of the story and my first attempt at dealing with my exploding emotions,” Eddie says of his new single. “As a listener, I want to hear what the f*ck is happening in someone’s life. Creating sonic stories is so secondhand for me, so when I looked at what I was going through, I had the skill set to express it without any smoke and mirrors.”

Eddie Benjamin, a true “your artists favorite artist,” has been putting that effortless musicality and expression to use in helping others tell their most honest stories as of late, as well — writing, producing, and playing across much of WILLOW’s GRAMMY-nominated empathogen and Shawn Mendes’ soul-baring Shawn, among others.

That recent activity has only upped the anticipation for fans awaiting Eddie Benjamin’s first new set of songs since 2023’s conceptual Weatherman EP, which not only included the titular hit, “Weatherman” —dubbed one of the “best songs of the year” by TIME — but also Alessia Cara duet “Only You,” which the duo brought to Jimmy Kimmel Live! in scorching fashion. That set was a culmination following Benjamin’s star turn opening for Justin Bieber’s Justice World Tour, and his striking 2021 debut EP, Emotional, which garnered widespread praise. With “MANIAC” as the opening salvo to his new musical era, Benjamin is poised to blow past the high expectations he’s set so far. 

About Eddie Benjamin

Inspired by the furious currents and peaceful tides he saw out his window growing up in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Eddie Benjamin makes startlingly dynamic pop music. The singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer’s knack for capturing the wild drama of human nature has mesmerized not only fans, but also icons, earning him recent studio work supporting creative forces like Shawn Mendes and WILLOW. Sia appeared on his short but striking 2021 debut EP, Emotional. Justin Bieber tapped him to open 2022’s Justice World Tour. And Alessia Cara sang on his 2023 concept EP, Weatherman. But with each year that passes, Benjamin’s expression gets more visceral, and his forthcoming debut album — inspired by an excruciating heartbreak — transmits confusion, pain, and resilience via surprising peals of guitar, disembodied vocals, hot bass runs, and pounding keys.

Holding it all together is the gift for unpredictable songcraft he started developing as a kid after seeing Prince play bass live in concert. By age 13, Benjamin’s life revolved around playing local jazz venues and headlining a weekly residency at a nearby nightclub. After moving to L.A., he won fans and collaborators alike with his probing lyrics and uniquely analog-infused sound — a swirl of psychedelia, soul, rock, and pop that, these days, feels as virtuosic as it does effortless and urgent. “I don't make a song unless it's piercing out of me,” he says. Eddie Benjamin sounds more at home in the extremes than ever.

Photo credit: Luke Dickey

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