"Something Wicked" this way comes from Breaking Benjamin.

"The Diary of Jane" rockers have released a new single called "Something Wicked," marking their first fresh material to follow the 2024 track "Awaken." As guitarist Jasen Rauch tells ABC Audio, the band hoped to bridge their classic sound with newer directions on "Something Wicked."

"Conceptually, sonically, everything, it was really basically derivative of stuff from our older sound to stuff we're trying to do and boundaries we're trying to push now as a band," Rauch says. "I think it's a perfect combination of all those things."

From the title, you might've thought Breaking Benjamin wrote "Something Wicked" while binging the Wicked movies. Of course, the phrase "something wicked this way comes" dates all the way back to Shakespeare's Macbeth.

"There's a bunch of pop culture history with that," Rauch says. "Other bands have written songs about it, like it, sharing titles, things like that, but it was kind of our spin on what that is."

"Something Wicked" does go on its own musical journey thanks to several key changes, including in the chorus when the guitars get brighter while frontman Benjamin Burnley's lyrics remain in a dark place. That juxtaposition is something Breaking Benjamin set out to explore on "Something Wicked."

"Some of our favorite music and influences do that really well," Rauch says. "So that was definitely something that we wanted to try." 

Breaking Benjamin has been working on a new album to follow their 2018 effort, Ember. They'll embark on a U.S. headlining tour in September.

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