Benee opens up on new album, Kiwi roots and finding home in LA

Kiwi singer Benee is now living in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images

When global superstar Benee joins Woman’s Day for a chat, she’s in New York, counting down the days until the release of her second studio album Ur An Angel I’m Just Particles. She’s had zero sleep, but the Auckland-born Supalonely singer insists, “I’m happy to be doing it and I’m so excited to be releasing the album.”

Now living in Los Angeles, Benee – real name Stella Rose Bennett – adds, “It’s crazy to be in the States. I love Aotearoa and it’ll always be home to me. Leaving my family and friends is still challenging, but it’s also such an undeniable blessing.”

The 25-year-old is in a pretty exclusive club – she’s a popstar who shot to fame only after she’d left school.

“I feel lucky that I was able to finish high school being anonymous, doing normal stuff,” Benee shares. “It can be difficult for child stars to navigate life and genuine relationships, so I’m glad I have that community I built and friendships that feel trustworthy. I’m also glad TikTok happened when I was 20 and not 15.”

While she credits the platform for her early success, she insists, “I built a genuine fan base. It was reassuring just knowing there were people out there who were connected and wanted to go to live shows.”

Benee’s life in LA has been an epic, inspiring blur, where she’s surrounded by others also chasing their dreams.

“A lot of them are nepos, but the others are people who just love something so much that they’re willing to risk it all to make it work,” she explains.

The star’s dream came true recently when her song What featured in the second series of the Netflix comedy Nobody Wants This, although it doesn’t quite compare to getting Lily Allen to feature on the track Plain from her first album.

The 25-year-old is a popstar who shot to fame only after she left school. Photo / Getty Images

Benee gushes, “I grew up listening to her and supported a show that she played in Auckland, so being able to have her on my first album felt like a full-circle moment. She’s so badass and her new album is pretty fricken sick. I can’t believe that f**king guy cheated on her. Come on, bro! You were already punching above your weight. I’m Team Lily all the way. I don’t even know what that guy’s name is.”

Benee’s fashion-designer boyfriend Keith Herron has taken on the creative direction for the new album, which she calls a “weird crossover”. Now coming up on two years together, Benee admits it wasn’t until the one-year mark that the pair got serious about working together on her song Animal.

“It’s a real magical collaboration,” Benee says. “It’s a very deep level of understanding and if you’re aligned aesthetically, it’s just an easy way to do it.”

Benee with fashion-designer boyfriend Keith Herron. Photo / Getty Images

Adjusting to life in LA hasn’t been quite so simple, with the singer unable to ignore the plight of the city’s huge homeless population.

She reflects, “I was shocked and so sad that I became pretty depressed the first year. It’s very f**ked up and I get deeply affected by it. It’s weirdly Third World.”

Benee took to fostering animals to feel like she was making a difference, acknowledging we’re in “a bit of a bubble” here in Aotearoa.

“How we treat the environment is so beautiful,” she muses. “Our appreciation for the ocean, land and sky is so deeply rooted in culture, which is something I carried over with me.”

She’s held on tight to her Kiwi roots, sharing, “It’s like a spirit I keep. This love and kindness that comes with how we were brought up is so deeply ingrained. It’s so special and I hope to carry that everywhere in life forever.”

Her Kiwi flatmates, who hail from New Plymouth, Wellington and Waiheke Island, keep her grounded, adds Benee. She was tucked away in a bach on Waiheke when she wrote Ur An Angel’s closing track Heaven, which is an ode to her grandad, who passed away in 2020, soon after her first taste of success.

Orphaned at a young age and adopted by a wartime widow, he later opened a 24/7 petrol station and regularly gave back to kids in need, before he ended up living in Benee’s family home.

Ur An Angel’s closing track Heaven is an ode to her grandad. Photo / Woman's Day

“It was a hard life, but he had this youthful spirit, which always inspired me,” she says. “He taught me I don’t have to get old and angry when I grow up.”

Since his death, Benee has been pondering the big questions, explaining, “I’m realising how fragile life really is and that it can be taken away from you so easily. There are so many ways you can just die. You have to be so careful and life is so precious.”

At her core, the singer is scared of the unknown and not having all the answers. But she smiles, “Maybe I should just enjoy it, you know?”

Benee’s album Ur An Angel I’m Just Particles is out now.