New Zealand indie-pop singer BENEE has delivered a cover of Gotye’s global hit “Somebody That I Used To Know,” featuring Kimbra. Recorded for Amazon Music, the intimate cover sees the singer slow down the track, laying quiet vocals over textured synths. BENEE’s version comes as “Somebody That I Used To Know,” celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this month.
The cover comes on the heels of the New Zealand singer-songwriter’s highly anticipated debut album Hey u, which was released via Republic Records last year.
“I’m writing music for one human listening to the music. I want them to feel as connected as they can to my mind,” BENEE says of the album. “I called it ‘Hey u x’ like a message that you send to a friend.”
Produced by Josh Fountain, Hey u features collaborations with Grimes, Lily Allen, Flo Milli, Mallrat, Kenny Beats, Bakar, Muroki, and Gus Dapperton on the hit single “Supalonely.” Since the track went viral on TikTok, “Supalonely” has amassed over 458 million Spotify streams.
Alongside the album, BENEE released an official music video for her single “Kool.” In collaboration with the Electronic Arts video game The Sims 4, the visual found the singer controlling her in-game self. Her sim self goes through a number of outfit changes and gets stuck in place as her player steps away from the computer.
“I wrote [the song] about some people I know who seem to be effortlessly cool,” she said of the track. “They always seem to say the right thing.”
Like Hey u, the playful visual matches the energy created by BENEE’s music, a type of classic Gen Z genre-blending and breaking.
“The Auckland native is no one-hit wonder; this is an ambitious, adventurous feat that shows off Benee’s pop-hook panache and genre-bending range,” NME wrote of the 20-year-old singer’s debut.
Buy or stream BENEE’s version of “Somebody That I Used To Know.”