New Zealand indie rock band Borderline channel collapse into cathartic release on “Watching It Burn,” a blazing, widescreen anthem from their self-titled debut album about communication breakdown, doomed architecture, and the strange freedom of watching a life you built go up in flames. 

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Stream: “Watching It Burn” – Borderline

We essentially live to create the songs we wish already existed. Music that feels big, honest, and something you can live inside for a few minutes.

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“Built our house to watch it all burn down.”

Borderline’s “Watching It Burn” begins from the wreckage of a life, a love, a shared world that was supposed to keep two people safe – only to become the very fire they have to escape. The indie rock band’s second single of the year is a blazing, cinematic anthem for the moment a connection begins to buckle – when the walls start smoking, the ground gives way, and all you can do is stand there with your heart in your hands, watching the life you knew collapse into flame.

It’s a song about collapse, yes – but also about release: The brutal, breathtaking freedom of naming the damage while it’s still burning.

Initially released in mid-March, “Watching It Burn” now lives inside Borderline’s self-titled debut album, Borderline, which arrived June 26 via EMPIRE as a 13-track statement of intent – widening their’s world without dulling the spark at its center. Hailing from Auckland, the rising New Zealand quartet – Ben Glanfield, Jackson Boswell, Matthew McFadden, and Max Harries – have been best mates since childhood, and that closeness gives their music its irresistible pulse: A rare, instinctive chemistry that lets them swing between polished alt-pop, funk-tinged grooves, and arena-sized rock without losing the emotional center. They released their debut single “Spinning” in 2022 while still in high school; followed that with 2023’s Perfect Movie Scene and 2025’s Chrysalis EP; signed to EMPIRE; earned Aotearoa Music Award nominations for Pop Artist of the Year and Breakthrough Artist of the Year; made their U.S. debut with six buzzed-about SXSW sets; supported Teddy Swims on an arena tour in New Zealand; and kicked off 2026 with “Tainted,” which was named “Track of the Week” on BBC Introducing. Still barely out of their teens, Borderline already sound like a band building toward a wider horizon.

You call me an actor, never say what I’m thinking
Always so dramatic when you say that you’re leaving
You slam the door, don’t know what for
I’m a lot, but you’re a lot, and that says a lot

Ooh, I’m wondering how you haven’t worked it out
You should know by now

“We’re four New Zealand boys who found each other through music at different stages as we were growing up,” Borderline tell Atwood Magazine. “Somewhere along the way it turned into everything for us.”

“We essentially live to create the songs we wish already existed,” they add. “Music that feels big, honest, and something you can live inside for a few minutes. There’s a lot of emotion in what we do, but it’s always paired with energy, we want people to feel something and move at the same time.”

I hate to admit it, but I’m down and out
Knew that we were walking on shaky ground
Built our house to watch it all burn down
I try to find balance while the world goes ’round
Keeping up appearances for someone else
Built our house to watch it all burn down

That mission roars through “Watching It Burn.” From its opening line – “You call me an actor, never say what I’m thinking / Always so dramatic when you say that you’re leaving” – the song drops us straight into the wreckage of a relationship where communication has curdled into performance. Everyone is talking, no one is hearing, and the house they built together is already cracking at the foundation. The lyric “I’m a lot, but you’re a lot, and that says a lot” lands with a wry sting, a flash of self-awareness inside the chaos; later, “Is it the house, or where we placed it?” cuts even deeper, pulling the song’s central image into a devastating question of blame, timing, and doomed architecture. Was the love wrong, or was it simply built on ground that could never hold?

“The whole idea started with us wanting to write something that felt anthemic, big guitars, synths, and a chorus that makes you want to take the roof off and sing along!” the band share. “The lyric came out of that tension you get when communication breaks down, people are saying things, but not really saying what they mean. We were chasing that feeling of an emotion sitting inside something that feels huge. It’s something we think people can relate to in their own way.”

You call me a traitor for putting my heart out
Too easy to cut this, like a razor paper
Is it the house, or where we placed it?
All I know now is I’m sleeping on the pavement

Ooh, I’m wondering how you haven’t worked it out
You should know by now

Borderline have always had a gift for making emotional devastation feel communal. On last year’s Editor’s Pick “When It’s Raining,” they wrapped anger and sadness in echoing piano, swelling guitars, and power-ballad catharsis, turning inner turmoil into a spiritually cleansing downpour. “Watching It Burn” returns to that larger-than-life emotional terrain, but with a harder, brighter edge: The guitars hit like headlights on wet pavement, the synths surge with widescreen intensity, and the chorus is all open-road adrenaline and heartbreak smoke. “I hate to admit it, but I’m down and out / Knew that we were walking on shaky ground / Built our house to watch it all burn down,” Ben Glanfield sings, his voice cutting through the band’s stadium-sized wall of sound, filled with the full-bodied urgency of someone finally saying the things he has been swallowing for too long.

Then comes the saxophone outro – Max Harries’ scene-stealing final lift – and the whole track bursts into color, transforming collapse into spectacle, sorrow into motion, pain into the kind of hook you want to scream from a car window with the roof down.

“We wrote ‘Watching It Burn’ with our own perspective of what it meant,” Borderline say. “For us, it came from that feeling of putting everything into something, a relationship, even a version of your life, and then watching it fall apart in a way you can’t control.”

“But we’re really fond of the idea that people can interpret our songs however they please and that once a song is out, it doesn’t belong to us in the same way anymore, so the audience is free to find their own meaning or story behind the lyrics. Their personal connections with ‘Watching It Burn’ are just as true to the song as our own!”

That openness is part of what makes the song hit so hard. “Watching It Burn” can be about a relationship, a dream, a chapter, a younger version of yourself – anything you loved enough to build, and lost enough to mourn. The band’s self-titled debut album, Borderline, released June 26 via EMPIRE and produced by Aotearoa Music Award-winning producer Nic Manders, captures that same sense of scale and immediacy across 13 tracks, with “Watching It Burn” sitting alongside “Tainted,” “That Girl,” “When It’s Raining,” and more as a portrait of a young band finding the full force of their sound. Borderline say the new music feels “more direct, more honest, and more like us,” and you can hear that confidence in every second of this single: Four musicians trusting their instincts, chasing the biggest version of the feeling, and landing on a song that sounds designed to detonate live.

“Oh 100%!” they say when asked if they always imagined “Watching It Burn” as a big live song. “This song was massive from the day we wrote it, and knew it would be super fun live.”

“Max pulling out the sax for the outro is a huge moment,” they add. “When that kicks in, it shifts the energy in the room and you can really feel the crowd lift.”

The lift is the point. “Watching It Burn” refuses to leave us in the ashes; it kicks the fire into motion.

Borderline may be singing about collapse, but they play it like a breakthrough – all nerve, neon, and open-throated release. In their hands, heartbreak becomes architecture, ruin becomes momentum, and a burning house becomes the backdrop for one of the year’s most exhilarating rock anthems. This is the sound of a band stepping into their own next era, staring down the blaze and refusing to look away.

Atwood Magazine caught up with Borderline to talk about the childhood friendship behind their sound, the communication breakdown at the center of “Watching It Burn,” and why the song was built to lift a room in real time. Read our conversation below, and crank it loud enough to feel the roof come off.

I hate to admit it, but I’m down and out
Knew that we were walking on shaky ground
Built our house to watch it all burn down
I try to find balance while the world goes ’round
Keeping up appearances for someone else
Built our house to watch it all burn down

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Stream: ‘Borderline’ – Borderline

A CONVERSATION WITH BORDERLINE

Borderline: We’re four New Zealand boys who found each other through music at different stages as we were growing up. Somewhere along the way it turned into everything for us.

We essentially live to create the songs we wish already existed. Music that feels big, honest, and something you can live inside for a few minutes. There’s a lot of emotion in what we do, but it’s always paired with energy – we want people to feel something and move at the same time.

It’s the best feeling in the world to play these songs live. When a room starts to sing something back that came from a small idea in a studio or rehearsal room in Auckland, that connects us and the audience in a very special way.

Borderline: We all come from very different musical backgrounds which is a big part of why Borderline sounds the way it does.

We all have our own musical north stars, but we share a bunch as well. Artists like Michael Jackson, Coldplay, and Prince. Artists who built worlds around their music and weren’t afraid to lean into deep emotions or sonic directions.

The new music we’re making feels really authentic to us. We’ve been exploring a bunch of new sounds and creating some really special music, exploring contrasts like big guitars paired with synths, softer moments that open into something huge. It feels more direct, more honest, and more like us.

Borderline: That period after Chrysalis was massive for us. We spent a lot of time playing the songs live and performing some of the biggest shows we’ve ever done including our first arena shows. We’ve spent a bunch of time writing and that discipline has pushed us forward.

We’ve grown a lot in how we work together as a band. There’s more trust in each other and in our process. We back our instincts more, and we are really excited about how that is impacting our new music.

Borderline: The whole idea started with us wanting to write something that felt anthemic, big guitars, synths, and a chorus that makes you want to take the roof off and sing along! The lyric came out of that tension you get when communication breaks down, people are saying things, but not really saying what they mean. We were chasing that feeling of an emotion sitting inside something that feels huge. It’s something we think people can relate to in their own way.

Borderline: We wrote “Watching It Burn” with our own perspective of what it meant. For us, it came from that feeling of putting everything into something, a relationship, even a version of your life, and then watching it fall apart in a way you can’t control.

But we’re really fond of the idea that people can interpret our songs however they please and that once a song is out, it doesn’t belong to us in the same way anymore, so the audience is free to find their own meaning or story behind the lyrics. Their personal connections with “Watching It Burn” are just as true to the song as our own!

Borderline: Oh 100%! This song was massive from the day we wrote it, and knew it would be super fun live. Max pulling out the sax for the outro is a huge moment. When that kicks in, it shifts the energy in the room and you can really feel the crowd lift.

Borderline: Part of what forms our sound is the diversity in our musical backgrounds, but because we’ve spent so much time together, there’s this shared instinct when something feels right. You don’t always need to say it out loud.

We all bring something different into it with unique perspectives, whether we grew up playing metal, Jazz or Ed Sheeran. After so much time together, we’re often on the same wavelength when writing, riffing ideas and finishing sentences (all that cute stuff).

It also means we’re honest with each other. If something’s not working, we’ll say it. There’s no ego around that. Everything is about making the best song possible.

Borderline: What we hope is that people listen to “Watching It Burn” and take away something that meets them wherever they’re at in their life. If someone hears it and the lyrics make them feel seen, or gives them something to hold onto, or it even inspires them to start a band and write their own songs, then that is the best outcome for us.

This was a song we poured a lot of emotion into, so releasing it came with a sense of letting go. That quickly grew into a comforting knowledge that it starts belonging to anyone who connects with it. Knowing that it goes full circle, and we’ll be able to share that connection with our audience when we play it live on tour, fills us with so much excitement, and we really can’t wait.

Borderline: The scale of North America! We’re really excited to see lots more of the country and to be able to take these songs into so many different cities to build a connection with people who are hearing us for the first time.

Outside of the shows, we’re looking forward to traveling by bus. We’re super excited to stop at places along the way and experience how different places feel.

Borderline: Some of our all-time favs as a band are Coldplay, Prince, MJ, Anderson Paak, and the Beatles. Recently, we’ve been really jamming Olivia Dean, Harry Styles, and Bruno with their releases. They are all artists who balance songwriting with feel and identity in a strong way. That’s always the thing we’re drawn to.

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:: stream/purchase Borderline here ::

:: connect with Borderline here ::

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Stream: “Watching It Burn” – Borderline

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 © Tom Grut

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