Kevin Bronson on December 16th, 2019

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The first single from L.A.’s Benten takes aim at a time and place not often referenced by contemporary pop producers: the south of England in the 1990s, when the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead were pioneering trip-hop.

“Without You” would have been at home in that next wave, boasting a sumptuous groove, celestial atmospherics and squawking bursts of synth that speak to the song’s central conflict: how a codependent relationship and addiction muddies the waters of love.

The milky vocals come courtesy of Madeleine Mayi, author of two solo EPs and a singer whom the producer found on Spotify.

“From time to time I check out Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist, and that’s where I heard Madeleine’s voice for the first time,” Benten says. “It blew me away and transported me right back to 1996, when I first heard Martina Topley-Bird on Tricky’s ‘Makes Me Wanna Die.’ That song ignited a lifelong love for trip-hop and hearing Madeleine’s voice, I knew I wanted to make something with her, that had some downtempo DNA in it.”

“Without You” was released Friday, and a Benten EP is in the works for 2020 via his new label, Odora Records.

||| Stream: “Without You”