Meme Magazine

Benny Tones – Chrysalis (BBE)

We gave you the heads up on Benny Tones last January when he released the title-track first single from this LP. Benny is part of the burgeoning New Zealand scene which includes Ladi6, Karlmarx and, notably, Electric Wire Hustle, of whom he mixed their eponymous album and has managed all of that band’s live sound. Which all gives you a few big clues to the sort of record this is – very technical in its execution, but essentially soulful at its heart, which is a pretty mean combination. The album’s soulful vibe extends to its range of guest vocalists such as Sacha Vee (on ‘Chrysalis’), Mara TK (who gets 3 tracks), LP, Adi Dick and Shihan The Poet. One of our favourite tracks is dub-heavy ‘Home’, which has clearly been influenced by fellow New Zealanders, Fat Freddy’s Drop and features their singer Joe Dukie. Other tracks explore different flavours of soul, RnB and Electronica, but never lose that expressive feel. This is a superb outing for Benny on his debut long player, and we’re sure that there’s even better to come on subsequent efforts, especially if he can start pushing the musical envelope further. ’Chrysalis’ is available now on BBE Records.

Listen / Buy Here:

> BBE

> Soul Seduction

> Amazon

> iTunes

Listen to ‘Aero:soul feat. Mara TK’ by Benny Tones

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Listen to ‘Chrysalis feat. Sacha Vee’ by Benny Tones

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 5:12 pm. It is filed under Reviews and tagged with BBE, Benny Tones, Electric Wire Hustle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.