Benee. (Photo: Imogen Wilson)
For the last four weeks of level 4 lockdown, Benee's been happily bubbling away inside her bubble.
"It's actually not too bad," she says. "I can still make music and I'm able to do most of my work so I'm not minding it. And I'm at home, which is nice."
Benee is proving to be the soundtrack to many people's isolation. Her song Supalonely has become a viral TikTok sensation during the Covid-19 pandemic and is one of the biggest tracks in the world right now. She's the No 98 Global Artist on Spotify and has swooped up a following of 22 million monthly listeners.
READ MORE:
• Album review: Benee, Fire on Marzz
• What you need to know about Benee, NZ music's rising star
They're mind-boggling numbers, but far from sounding supalonely herself due to our enforced isolation, Benee is instead as fizzy and effervescent as her music. The only thing bringing her down is that damn pandemic...
"I'm meant to be on tour right now, which is really sad. I was so gutted when I had to cancel or postpone everything... But it's totally fair enough," she says.
The flipside to her not being overseas is that she's here, which could work out well for the legion of local fans wanting to see her perform.
"This is very true," she says. "I was actually thinking about this. If we can completely contain it, and then eliminate it - get it outta here! - then there's nothing here. If we're not bringing anything in, or taking anything out, then it could be really good for New Zealand music. It'd be great. I miss gigging so much. It'd be so cool to just play shows here for a while."
She has been spending her time during lockdown busying herself with work on her new album, which she reckons will be out towards the end of the year.
"I've been working on a couple of new songs," she says. "Me and Josh Fountain, my producer, were making music before we went into lockdown and then it got put on pause, obviously."
Benee says the vibe is "super-experimental", and that she's been cutting loose and cutting all musical restrictions.
"I just wanted to go wild. I've tried out a bunch of different genres. I tried rapping in a song! It could be a big flop," she laughs. "It's quite different from Fire on Marzz. Hopefully, people like it. You never know..."
It's obvious Benee is a natural star, effortlessly genuine and cool. Her music appeals to everyone from grizzled old rock journos to tweens on the hot new social media platform to everyone in between. What's the secret?
"As I've been making music I've realised that you can do anything with anything and it doesn't matter. You can make a song and try out bad girl trap and it doesn't matter if it flops. That's what I've been trying to do – just try stuff."
Then she laughs and says, "A lot of it sounds real bad when I do it... But some of it actually is kinda cool. It's trial and error. As long as you're trying all the new stuff and just experimenting, that's when the coolest stuff comes."
What does NZMM mean to you?
It's a good little chunk of time for people to think about the music and appreciate the artists here. I feel sometimes we don't acknowledge them enough, because there are some bloody cool artists here. I love it when my feed is bombarded with Music Month stuff.
Who should we be listening to?
Jack Berry. His music is super-cool and this weird mix of R & B and indie. He's real sick.
Who would you most like to collab with?
So many New Zealand artists, but I don't think they want to collaborate with me! Fat Freddy's are sick. That could be kinda cool.
What's your most memorable live music experience in Aotearoa?
It would have to be the Christchurch You Are Us gig. That was a big "whoa" moment for me. It was probably the biggest crowd I've performed in front of and the whole vibe was something special. I was very honoured to play there.
What's your classic NZ album?
Aldous Harding, I love her. Designer. That's a beauty.