#bensbeendead.

A well-crafted song is the perfect escape; it can whisk you away to somewhere you’ve been, have yet to venture to, or somewhere you’d rather be. Often, this is an actual place, but sometimes it’s a feeling. As you hear Bensbeendead. new EP Lovely Creatures blast through your speakers, he takes you on a journey of love, lust, hope, and regret.

One thing in particular that makes Lovely Creatures such a dynamic listen is the combination of acoustic and electronic instrumentation allowing the EP to have a modern yet timeless vibe. This is demonstrated on tracks like “How You Like it” and “Feels Like Dancing,” which expertly overlay pop vocals on top of warm organs, swelling strings, and the smooth timbre of the trumpet. Then you have Bensbeendead.’s effortless falsetto that when combined with the warm harmonies on display provide a dreamlike tone to the vocals.

On the surface, Lovely Creatures is a play-by-play of a classic night out on the town, but when you dive into the EP, it becomes apparent that Bensbeendead. is merely using the party lifestyle as a metaphor for his experience with relationships.

Contained in this EP is a rollercoaster ride through the emotions that go hand in hand with navigating a relationship. The elation and excitement of something new is on full display in tracks “Feels Like Dancing” and “French Exit,” only for that optimism to turn to somber self-reflections in the more melancholic “Many Moons” and “Replica.” The brutal honesty in the lyricism is what really makes Lovely Creatures such an enjoyable ride as a listener.

Just as it takes courage to open yourself up to another person, it takes the same courage to lay yourself bare in your music and invite others to share in your journey. We can all be grateful for Bensbeendead. willingness to do just that, because in the end, we all just want to feel like we’re not alone.

Just a little over a year ago, Bensbeendead. was introduced to the industry via his debut single, “Exoskeleton.” His unique production and signature vocal tone are what really stuck out to listeners. Fast forward one year, and the emerging artist has debuted his first EP entitled GARDENING. The project tells the end of a botched love story and everything that goes with a not-so-happy ending.

The name of GARDENING comes from the saying “tending the garden”. The idea was to focus on his own mental stability and self-care. Tracks like “STAND STILL” talk about how falling in love can consume your every thought and emotion, whereas tracks like “RADIO SILENCE” convey the idea of keeping tabs on an ex that you can’t seem to move on from. These kinds of problems can keep building up to eventually tear you down, so it’s essential that you pull back to focus on yourself. To tend your own garden so to speak. Bensbeendead. explains,

“I started recording GARDENING at the very beginning of the pandemic when we were all first starting to settle into quarantine. I was spending a lot of time filled with anxiety and started to really focus in on myself and what I needed. The idea of ‘tending a garden’ really connected with me when it came to the idea of self care. With more time to slow down and spend on myself it really felt like I was starting to tend to my own garden, and the songs I wrote during that period hopefully reflects that idea. I wanted to create a sonic world that people could get lost in. It’s a project that I think should be listened to in full, in a setting where you can really focus on all the layers of the songs. It might be hard to digest when you’re feeling the emotions conveyed through the project but I hope that at least those people can relate to the feelings and fully indulge in them through this EP.”