New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Marking a momentous return, New Zealand's platinum sensation BENEE proudly presents her new single entitled "Doesn't Matter" today via Republic Records/Universal Music.
On the track, BENEE opens up like never before. Steady drums beat through dreamy guitar as her voice comes in and out of focus. The lyrics depict her mental health struggles with raw detail and poetic poise. Above this delicate musical hum, she confesses, "I know it doesn't matter." Shining light through the cracks, she asks, "there is a way through."
BENEE recently announced the single on World Mental Health Day with a vulnerable post on Instagram.
Of the song, BENEE notes, "It seems like a very long time since I've released any music. This year has been very difficult for me and many other people, and I've had times that I've really felt my lowest. I wrote 'Doesn't Matter' during one of these periods when I felt truly overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck. I was diagnosed with OCD, which actually helped me understand myself better. This song ponders on what it would be like to feel truly carefree and how much easier life would be. Sometimes, it's hard for people who don't suffer from anxiety or depression to really understand what it's like for us. People telling you not to worry or saying 'It doesn't matter' don't understand that it's not that simple. Having had help to learn how to deal with my own anxiety and depression, I want others to know that there is a way through."
BENEE's 2020 full-length debut album, Hey u x, gathered 3.5 billion-plus streams. Featuring her global viral hit "Supalonely," it received critical acclaim courtesy of Billboard, British Vogue, Consequence, E! Online, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, NPR, NYLON,PAPER Magazine, Pigeons & Planes, Stereogum, Teen Vogue, The FADER, UPROXX, V Magazine, Variety, Wall Street Journal, and many more. Billboard also featured her on its "21 Under 21 Artists" list, while Rolling Stone hailed her an "Artist You Need To Know." Not to mention, she took home the award for "Best New Zealand Act" at the 2020 MTV EMAs and received nominations at the 2020 MTV VMAs and E! People's Choice Awards.
BENEE is the dreamy voice of a disaffected generation, breaking through in 2020 with "Supalonely," her irresistible, four billion streaming alt-pop banger that practically defined the pandemic experience. Twenty-one-year-old
Stella Bennett mixes her deeply heartfelt reflections on life in suburban Auckland, New Zealand, with offbeat and often whimsical lyrical encounters with zombies and snails, all produced with a technicolor ear for cooked beats and unpredictable hooks. A fervent online following and been drawn to BENEE's two intriguing EP releases, FIRE ON MARZZ and STELLA &
STEVE before her guest-packed, yet highly personal Hey u x album was released at the tail end of 2020. The album was a vibrant musical world with guests ranging from
Grimes and
Lily Allen to
Gus Dapperton and Muroki (another New Zealand teen BENEE has since signed to her own label, Olive). It was listed as one of Billboard's "25 Best Pop Albums of 2020," noting that BENEE "contemplates the woes of Gen Z with a keen ear for choruses and arrangements that oscillate between indie rock and hyperpop." Stereogum praised its "quirky but impeccably produced pop music," and Vogue called it "13 tracks of heavenly indie-alt-pop." Platinum Awards piled up around the globe and she performed "
Supalonely" - live from New Zealand - on The
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, and Late Night With Seth Meyers and recorded a heartfelt live version of album opener "Happen To Me" for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. A year on, BENEE returns with new music in the form of "Doesn't Matter," another deeply revealing track that reflects the singer's journey through the emotional clatter of 2021.The song sees
Bennett pondering what it would be like to feel truly carefree. "Doesn't Matter" is the first track to turn up from the pile of music BENEE has been quietly chipping away at through 2021. It has been a tough year, she notes, a time that has seen her feeling at her lowest and having to learn to cope with her anxiety, diagnosed this year as OCD. A forthcoming BENEE EP release leads into plans for 2022 with the thing that excites
Bennett most, a hefty touring schedule. Expect the world to be ready and waiting for her.
