BENEE: a door into her brain

Interviews with Richard Kingsmill

Two years ago, in her first year out of school, BENEE dropped ‘Soaked’. It was only her second single, but it’s effortless charm flagged her as a talent to watch.

The Auckland artist only built on that interest with a succession of hits that saw her score three songs in the 2019 Hottest 100, including ‘Glitter’ which is now streaming in the hundreds of millions.

For her debut album, the 20yo wanted it to be a personal message to her fans, as if it was a door into her brain. Working once again with producer Josh Fountain, BENEE collected some pretty big guests as well like Lily Allen and Grimes to help her out on various songs. Richard Kingsmill speaks here to BENEE about the process of making Hey u x, what inspired the title, and how a relationship breakup inspired some of the album’s key songs like the mega-hit ‘Supalonely’.