BENEE °1824 Press Conference
Written by Paula Kowalska
BENEE catapulted to the scene with the infectious breakout hit ‘Supalonely’, and her sophomore album ‘Ur An Angel I’m Just Particles’, which came out November 7th to critical acclaim, proves she has no intention of slowing down.
During her press conference with °1824, we had the chance to dive into BENEE’s creative process with the album described as her “Most experimental yet emotionally grounded, balancing existential unease with euphoric, genre-bending alt-pop that only she could deliver”
Speaking at the conference, BENEE described the emotional turmoil of moving from New Zealand to Los Angeles. The drastic culture change led her to start “asking the big questions in life,” which ultimately helped shape the album. The project was more concept-driven than her debut. She approached it with a clear sense of its visual world from the start, drawing inspiration from everything around her.
When asked about her collaboration with producers Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjard, she stressed how important it was for her to have female production on her album since it can be so male-dominated, and she felt a deeper level of comfort and reliability.
The record’s emotional peak lands with “Heaven”, the closing track, and her first time writing about losing someone in a profound way. She described it as “deeply cathartic,” with the song bringing comfort thanks to its honesty.
Not everything came about easily, with the track “Underwater” being the most technically challenging to finish, taking time to lock in the right production. However, just like the rest of her process, it all eventually fell into place naturally through trial and error.
Collaboration is always at the forefront of BENEE’s mind, and this album was no exception, with the PinkPantheress feature on “Princess”, which stemmed from wanting a unique voice to fill a specific moment in the nearly finished track, and she felt there was no one better than PinkPantheress to fill that void. When asked about a dream collaboration, she stated that she would jump at the chance to work with Gorillaz.
When asked about the glamour of a release day, BENEE detailed the fun of a release-show party and the familiar mix of excitement and vulnerability, never quite knowing if the work will be embraced or “lost in the sauce”. However, judging by the reviews and the excitement around the release, it’s clear that no one will be forgetting about BENEE any time soon.
