New York, NY (Top40 Charts) New Zealand's platinum sensation BENEE unveils the official video for her latest single "Doesn't Matter" today. Co-directed by BENEE and New Zealand actress and director Aidee Walker, the cinematic visual co-stars BENEE, her guitarist Tiare Kelly, and her pup TUI. The lulling production underscores pensive moments, as the lyrics detail her struggles with mental health and OCD diagnosis. The video brings these feelings to life in artful and eloquent fashion, standing out as BENEE's most confessional statement yet.
BENEE says, "'Doesn't Matter' is about how hard it can be to explain your feelings and emotions to people. Sometimes friends just being there for you is such a help. I'm so excited about this video; it was my first shot at co-directing with Aidee Walker. I came up with the concept, and she helped me bring it to life. I wanted the look of an old French indie film with a twist....and I love how it turned out."
BENEE recently announced her first foray out into the world since the pandemic struck with her 2022 headline world tour. The North American leg kicks off on May 31st in Montreal and makes stops in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more—see the full list of dates here: https://bit.ly/3Gk0Tfk and at https://beneemusic.com. The 21-year-old artist broke through with "Supalonely," her global hit with 4 billion streams, and like many artists has had to wait for a chance to tour outside of her home country again. Next year's tour will be BENEE's first time playing shows in North
America since 2019.
BENEE's dreamy alt-pop 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. 2020's debut album Hey u x is 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."
A forthcoming EP release leads into plans for 2022 with the thing that excites BENEE the most—a hefty touring schedule that will bring her live show to adoring fans around the world at last.
"a slow-burning acoustic ballad" - Billboard
"emotive and pensive" - PAPER Magazine
"an anthem that gets real about mental health" - UPROXX
"BENEE takes a turn towards the raw and the serious…" - V Magazine
BENEE is the dreamy voice of a disaffected generation, breaking through in 2020 with "Supalonely," her irresistible, nearly 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 have 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 is 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.
