The Santa Barbara EP features two previously released covers (“Passionfruit” and “Dancing In the Dark”) and three new covers that hold deep significance to Benny. He reimagines two songs by Dutch pop band “Bløf” on the EP. Benny says, “They’ve always managed to get to me, which is odd because their genre of music is not what I usually listen to. There is something about their songs.” The two tracks from Bløf that Benny recreates as his own are “Ride Like the Wind” and “Santa Barbara,” which features Nataly Dawn, lead vocalist of the acclaimed indie-pop band Pomplamoose. “Zoutelande” is the Dutch translation for what we know in English as Santa Barbara, the cozy beach city nestled between the cusps of southern and central California.
Also on the EP is Billy Preston’s “It Will Come In Time,” a song Benny describes as “THE blueprint for the whole Benny Sings sound.” Billy Preston is the only musician in the world to have played and written
with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. For Benny, a beloved solo artist who thrives on collaboration, the appeal of covering Preston was impossible to resist.
Listen to Santa Barbara on Spotify, Apple Music & Bandcamp
Benny Sings will perform this summer at Outlands Festival and next month will open for Rex Orange County at L.A.’s famed Hollywood Bowl.