With the release of I Love You - Live at the Bimhuis (SK051CD) by BENNY SINGS in spring 2005 on Sonar Kollektiv, the label saw an especially important release in its catalogue for various reasons. For one thing the Dutchman BENNY SINGS is a gifted songwriter and performer, for another the release came at just the right time.
I Love You - Live at the Bimhuis was exactly that: a concise collection of no-frills jazz-pop songs presented in a sunny west coast easy-listening vibe reminiscent of BURT BACHARACH, SUPERTRAMP or even STEELY DAN.
In some way BENNY SINGS really is returning home with his new album Album Benny ...at home. For the acoustic instrumentation that dominated I Love You, Benny ...at home now takes back seat to a much more urban sound.
Still present is the light hearted and seeming effortless way BENNY SINGS presents his compositions. The tracks are built on solid foundations of tight back-beats and bouncy grooves - the Dutchman, who is originally a bass-player, seems to have remembered his hip hop roots.
Which is why SINGS and SUÈR place the emphasis on a much more urban aesthetic in order to create a bridge between genres and so avoid any obvious repetition of what's gone before - instead they place an accent on the future. Once again they have managed with the supercool understatement that only those who are completely confident doing what they do to produce with Benny ...at home a perfect symbiosis between originality and a commercially viable product. It is nothing less than that all too seldom reached goal: sublime pop music, which is at one and the same time accessible and yet never superficial.