With a New EP and Long-Awaited Tour, BENEE Is Leveling Up in 2022
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The post With a New EP and Long-Awaited Tour, BENEE Is Leveling Up in 2022 appeared first on Consequence.
le“Hopefully when I come to The States, I can eat a lychee,” BENEE tells Consequence over Zoom, dappled in morning light in her home in New Zealand. The fruit for which her new EP is named is scarce in her home country at the moment, she explains, meaning the sweet, tart, food that’s always been her favorite will be even more of a treat once she’s able to get her hands on one again.
LYCHEE, out March 4th, is the latest from BENEE, who was born (and introduces herself) as Stella Bennett. Many listeners may associate her with a very distinct time and place — her breakout track, “Supalonely,” exploded at the very beginning of the pandemic first over TikTok, then over streaming and radio. This means a huge amount of her growth as an artist took place while most of the world was at home, and she’s itching to get back on the road and see the true, tangible results of it for herself on tour.
Her tour, which will weave through Australia and Europe before making its way to the US, kicks off in March. “It’s a little bit of a level up from where we were when we toured last time,” she explains, explaining how Pinterest board aesthetics have developed into real-life visual accompaniments for the show. Her band, who has been with her since 2017, is beyond ready to play again.
There’s a dichotomy that can sometimes be difficult around seeing a song blow up the way “Supalonely” did. For an artist, it’s understandable to not want to be defined by one piece of work (despite the positives associated with “going viral”), especially for someone like BENEE, who is itching to write and create.
“I only have things to be grateful for with how that song unfolded,” she shares of that double-edged sword. “It’s my little friend, still. I’m not against the connection, but I also don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”
Ahead of the EP, BENEE released “Beach Boy,” a song accompanied by a music video with a distinctly un-beachy vibe. Instead, BENEE leaned into darker, moodier aesthetics, playing around with a sharp contrast. She divulges that this choice was partially inspired by the Twilight franchise. “If people don’t get why [Twilight] is so great, I just feel sorry for you,” she says with a laugh. She is — say it, out loud — correct.
LYCHEE arrives at the perfect point in the year, at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere — with the promise of spring around the corner, the EP is packed with warmth and whimsy. There’s moments that are sunnier and dreamy, like “Hurt You, Gus,” and others that are more danceable and electronic, like “Soft Side.” It’s a new chapter for BENEE, and it’s being shared at a time of new chapters for so many listeners.
BENEE has always wanted to write, and she wrote on every track of the EP herself. She shares that she’d someday love to write for others, too, a la Julia Michaels or Charli XCX, and has a notebook packed with words, phrases, and ideas that she keeps handy. She’s meticulous not just about lyrical content but about finding the right vibe of a song, too, and developing each track’s individual fingerprint.
Later in the conversation, BENEE calls herself out for over-using the word “stoked.”
“I’m just so happy, so happy that it’s all happening this year,” she clarifies. It’s okay to be stoked, BENEE. With one track alone hitting over 600 million streams and a new EP on the way, why shouldn’t she be?
Catch BENEE on tour; tickets are available via Ticketmaster.
LYCHEE Artwork:
With a New EP and Long-Awaited Tour, BENEE Is Leveling Up in 2022
Mary Siroky
Popular Posts
Robert Fripp and Toyah Are Right on Time with The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy": Watch
Sam Elliott Complains About "Homosexuality" in "Piece of Shit" Movie The Power of the Dog
7-Year-Old Drummer Caleb Hayes Crushes Slipknot's "Sulfur" on Ellen: Watch
The Batman Review: Robert Pattinson Is Emo as Hell in Matt Reeves' Compelling Epic-Length Film
