Ahead of the release of her EP Lychee, BENEE has dropped a late summer single that squirms in the uncomfortable space between singleness and love and longing. It’s a melancholic track perfect for those of you hesitantly kissing your summer fling goodbye (don’t go baby!).
BENEE has enjoyed messing in the spaces of alt-indie and hyper-pop. ‘Beach Boy’ seems to lean more heavily towards that hyper-pop sound, with steady drums, dreamy guitar, and her signature sweet, soft vocal. The lyrics are easy and breezy, though they’re dealing with themes of intimacy and anxiety. The simplicity and repetition of those lines makes ‘Beach Boy’ an easy listen, and a bit of an earworm for any pop fan. The music video for ‘Beach Boy’ makes a stark aesthetic contrast with the title of the song, playing with gothic, occult, vampirish imagery. It’s pretty creepy, clearly pulling from Twilight and The Lost Boys and makes for a bit of a visual feast in set design, costume, and recording formats.
‘Beach Boy’ is a lighter and happier sound than her last release ‘Doesn’t Matter’, which deals more closely with mental health and hopelessness. This shift stirs up excitement for the upcoming EP—perhaps we’ll see BENEE experiment with more sounds, and a thematic tracklist structure.
Big luv for an Edward Cullen moment!
