Dead Letter Circus Frontman Opens Up About Sexual Abuse Issues In New Song

Kim Benzie, frontman of Brisbane alt-rock outfit Dead Letter Circus has taken to the band’s Facebook page today to recount a harrowing story that inspired a new song from their upcoming album, Aesthesis.

Posting their latest track Silence online, frontman Kim Benzie said that the song followed the true story of a friend who confided in him about being molested as a child some years ago.

"When I was growing up someone close to me was unfortunately a victim of child molestation and they chose to confide in me about it," Benzie wrote in the post. 

"My friend chose to not go to the police and instead buried the secret so as not to bring shame to the family, only to find out years later that it wasn't an isolated incident and involved other victims."

The singer went on to say that years later he struggled to come to terms with the fact that the offender was never found out.

"What I found hard to swallow was learning that the sick human being that committed these acts lived out a normal life, and aside from dying alone, to my knowledge never received that dose of karmic justice."

The new song was written as an alternate version to how this tragic incident unfolded in which Benzie's friend delivered justice to the offender. 

"I began to imagine an alternative version of that story where my friend made a different decision and delivered a dark karma to the monster."

"...I visualised a scene where my friend had somehow abducted the person that liked to scar children, and had them gagged and tied to a chair in a dark room. The person in the chair thought they would never answer to this crime, but was now staring into the face of my friend, who was now older, stronger and able to defend themselves. This moment is where the song starts. The entire song is sung from the first person perspective of my friend to the monster, as his final rites before justice."

See below for Benzie's full statement, direct from the band's Facebook. 

STATEMENT: 

"When I was growing up someone close to me was unfortunately a victim of child molestation and they chose to confide in me about it. My friend chose to not go to the police and instead buried the secret so as not to bring shame to the family, only to find out years later that it wasn’t an isolated incident and involved other victims. 

Personally, I found it impossible to process that the monster of a human being who did this to my friend would travel through life without answering to his depraved and shameful acts. My friend simply believed that some kind of karmic justice would happen, and said that the important thing was that the cycle of abuse ended with this generation rather than a new monster being born from the abuse. 

I drifted apart from my friend over the years but kept in occasional contact. My friend lived a good life but never quite stepped out from the shadow of that experience; even years later as an adult there was always a sadness behind the smile. Perhaps it was in my mind simply because I knew.

What I found hard to swallow was learning that the sick human being that committed these acts lived out a normal life, and aside from dying alone, to my knowledge never received that dose of karmic justice. 

Late one night whilst writing for the new album I was strumming the guitar and the opening line for Silence came out. ‘This is how it ends’... I started thinking about my friend and fell into a really dark mood. I began to imagine an alternative version of that story where my friend made a different decision and delivered a dark karma to the monster. 

One of my favourite TV shows had been the series Dexter in which the main character would deliver a dark form of justice to people. I visualised a scene where my friend had somehow abducted the person that liked to scar children, and had them gagged and tied to a chair in a dark room. The person in the chair thought they would never answer to this crime, but was now staring into the face of my friend, who was now older, stronger and able to defend themselves. This moment is where the song starts. The entire song is sung from the first person perspective of my friend to the monster, as his final rites before justice. 

The children's choir at the end of the song felt quite fitting."