Eclectic genre-fluid trio Benin City dive into what true individuality means on their latest single “We Belong To Us.” The London-based band team up with composer/producer James Greenwood (from Ghost Culture) who gifts them with a retro sound straight from the 80s. From slick synth arrangements, atmospheric pads, punchy stadium drums, and reverberated vocals, “We Belong To Us” is pure pop gold.
Lead singer Shanaz sets the pace with her smooth/ gripping vocal tone and an inspiring message of being in tune with oneself in order to excel. The slow build-up is quite enticing and things reach a plateau as the chorus section rolls in as Tom adds his bass-laden vocals behind Shanaz’s angelic melodic runs. Josh helms the second verse with his own take on conditioned toxicity and how he had to unlearn those traits as he grew older. Tom rears his creative head once more to close the track with a beautiful sax solo that ties it all together.
With lyrics like “Fighting that good fight Like its light work” and “Don’t You let them see you as weak Let them mark you down” the trio urge listeners to stray from the herd mentality and find their inner strength as an individual entity. This recourse will in turn make better individuals who can band together to form a community.
With their knack for making vibrant light-hearted songs with profound messages, Benin City once again lifts our spirits with this gem of a track and leaves us with something to ponder on while getting our groove on. The record is actually the first song not produced by the trio’s in-house team.
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