Damien Binder is a unique artist who balances incredible productivity with constant quality – a firm favourite here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia.
He has followed up the release of the single ‘Winterlude‘ earlier this year with the new track ‘I Can’t Believe My Mind’ which we are proud to premiere today.
The origins of the guitar style and riffy chord progression in the song can be traced back to a finger injury Binder sustained last year. He says:
Before Christmas 2025, I tore a ligament in one of the fingers on my fretting hand. For six months, I could only play guitar with two fingers, so I played power chords using fifths (like in heavy metal). As it was, I couldn’t perform most of the songs in my set, and I had to cancel a few gigs during this period. The injury forced me into a style of playing which, as it turned out, had its strange advantages in that it limited my choices. It was kind of a revelation!
It’s a welcome revelation. The track has a more muscular guitar spine carrying, as ever, Binder’s melodies that soar throughout. Binder’s vocals are as spell binding as ever with an anthemic, indelible chorus. There are are elements of antipodean greats such as The Hoodoo Gurus and even Split Enz with other band such as REM or The National in the mix, and yet Binder has a distinct and unique sound that somehow encapsulates the wild beautiful geography of his adopted Western Australian home.
The lyrics have a delicious poetry and a sense of melancholy:
Lost days
Taillights fade from sight
This ain’t no dream ride
Ain’t no backing out of this fight
To a warm place
Where you don’t run or hide
She said for god’s sake
Don’t let it pass you by
Beautiful stuff as ever:
‘I Can’t Believe My Mind’ is out tomorrow and available to download and stream via the link above and all the usual sites.
Now based in Western Australia, and before pursuing his solo career, Binder fronted New Zealand rock band Second Child who shot to fame with their 1990s albums Magnet and Slinky and appeared on NZ TV shows Max TV and Juice TV.
Second Child took the stage at the Auckland stop of the Big Day Out (1996) and played supports with the likes of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Hunters & Collectors, Nirvana, Fugazi and The Rollins Band. As a solo artist, Binder has supported some of the world’s leading international acts including David Gray, Marianne Faithfull and Ani Di Franco.
