Album Review: BENEE - 'Hey u x'
BENEE explores anxiety, romance, loneliness, sassiness and more in new album ‘Hey u x’.
It is no secret that NZer BENEE has been on the right path to become a household name in the new alt-pop scene since her debut in 2017. However, it wasn’t until recently that her music went viral. Her 2019 EP ‘STELLA & STEVE’, which featured hit singles ‘Find an Island’ and ‘Supalonely’, consolidated her position as a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
With several anthemic indie-emo songs and over two billion combined streams under her belt, the nineteen year-old artist returns and sweeps us off our feet once more with playful and clever new album ‘Hey u x’.
She opens with wonderous ‘Happen To Me’, a track where she playfully sings about her struggles with overthinking and death. Like any good Gen-Z, she describes her anxiety in a very calm and almost sarcastic way. Her soothing yet powerful voice shines through as she says, “my mind likes to wine itself up, and I don’t get a lot of sleep, cuz what if they happen to me”. She then explores a similar topic in ‘Same Effect’where she sings about facing loneliness while picking up the pace with a very dynamic bassline.
In the album, BENEE also shows incredible versatility, especially through her collaborations. In ‘Sheesh’ she joins forces with Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Grimes for a heavily electronically produced pseudo-diss track. She then presents a self-praising hymn featuring Lily Allen and Flo Milli in ‘Plain’. Singing to a trap beat she says “what a shame your girl is so plain she has nothing on me”. On top of these, the album also features Kenny Beats & Bakar, Muroki and obviously Gus Dapperton – we all know what song we’re referring to, and we are more than happy that it’s there.
BENEE also shares an unexpectedly funky surprise in ‘Kool’, a song featuring a disco production style with loads of organic elements. Lyrically, she gives us a run for our money all throughout as well, however, this is particularly highlighted in the one and only romantically obvious track ‘If I Get To Meet You’.
As the album comes to an end, the artist picked the perfect closing song ‘C U’. With this, a more acoustic rendition, Benee relies on simple guitar riffs as she says,“If I could stay you know I would, I like it here, deep in the woods”. Intentionally targeting listeners with this line, she says goodbye as she has other places to be.
Quickly coming through to help us cope with the end of what has been a turbulent year to say the least, the young indie artist offers us a more than relatable album full of (kinda sad but also not) bangers and head-bopping tracks. So buckle up and get ready to join a really candid yet relieving ride in ‘Hey u x’.
Words by Nicole Otero