Image: Harry Were
New Zealand indie pop sensation BENEE has shared the lush music video for her song, Snail. The larger-than-life, trippy fantasy visual sees the singer surrounded by her snail roommates, before venturing into her secret elf lab. Complete with a mushroom forrest, the glow of an aurora borealis and a giant stone replica of the singers head, BENNE has created her own visual wonderland.
A collaboration with director Anita Fontaine, the singer shared the inspiration behind the visual and their collaborative process: “I knew I wanted the vid to be a weird fantasy story involving snails! I said to Anita that I wanted to be an elf with long braids riding a bike & have giant mushrooms somewhere in the vid... She came back with the treatment & I loved ittttttt! Her imagination is supa whacky in the best way and I’m so happy with how Snail turned out.”
The track was written and recorded with Josh Fountain during the COVID-19 pandemic, once New Zealand opened its boarders. The Platinum songstress was inspired to write the song after developing a fascination with snails during her time in isolation. “When we were in lockdown, I was fascinated by snails. There wasn’t really a lot to be doing, so I would spend a lot of time outside looking at snails and would think about how they’re doing their own little thing and they’re all free. I just played around with the idea of being kind of like a snail and how I come out in the rain. Being stuck inside because of COVID, it’s kind of my lockdown song.”
In the midst of her global success, BENEE has just launched her very own record label, Olive, whose first signing, is 19 year-old Raglan artist, Muroki. The Kenyan-New Zealander caught the attention of the singer through his self-released debut, Better or Worse, which dropped last year. “I was listening to the track every day at one point. I love his voice so muchhhh – it’s so smooth and soulful. Then I met him at 121 Festival in March. Muroki’s such a sweet and genuine guy, just the sort of artist I’d like to work with,” BENEE explains, adding, “Already I’ve loved being able to connect Muroki with people. I playlist his song whenever I can and played it to Elton John when I met him on his radio show. It is great to bring him out on tour in front of my supporters cos I know they’re gonna love this guy, his band and his music.” Muroki is accompanying BENEE on her current tour, with his new single, Light me Up, out now!
The singer is creating a formidable force with her new record label, building a tight knit team comprised of label manager Trieste Douglas, formerly A&R for Universal NZ, and Poppy Tohill, from BENEE’s management team at CRS. “The Olive team is already packed with some hard-working, badass women and I feel this is an important time for us in the music business to come together and make some really cool shit happen,” says BENEE.
Snail is out now! Watch the music video below.