BENEE - Lychee

Where 2020 debut album ‘Hey U X’ saw BENEE gather an impressive guest list (Lily Allen, Gus Dapperton, Bakar) to pepper her bedroom pop with outside influences, the seven-track ‘Lychee’ sees the New Zealander showing off a sound that’s distinctly her own. Sure, you can readily place her somewhere between the lackadaisical chill of The Japanese House and Biig Piig’s leftfield pop, but there’s a clear personality that runs through this EP. ‘Soft Side’ bristles with a clubby undercurrent, while ‘Make You Sick’ opens with a wonderful juxtaposition of softly-sung vocals and the mantra “I’m a bad bitch”. It’s a similar scene on ‘Hurt You, Gus’ where her sugary-sweet delivery and the song’s shuffling playground beat team up to belie its message. The pick of the bunch, however, is ‘Never Ending’, where ‘90s alt-rock guitars are subtly updated via a ‘20s alt-pop filter, paired with hip hop rhythms and the singer’s typically heart-on-sleeve lyrics for a low-key anthemic track.