Liam Benzvi Breaks Down New Album …And His Splash Band Track by Track: Exclusive

The post Liam Benzvi Breaks Down New Album …And His Splash Band Track by Track: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence .

Track by Track is our recurring feature series in which artists guide readers through each song on a release. Today, New York singer-songwriter Liam Benzvi breaks down his fantastic new album, …And His Splash Band.

It’s hard to be in a band in New York City. There’s a lack of physical space, and post-COVID, a lack of reliable entry-level venues — not to mention the usual difficulties of juggling egos and financial strains. Luckily for him, Liam Benzvi has been doing it alone for years, working as a songwriter, producer, and trusty collaborator for a myriad of artists in between helming solo material. But for his second record, Benzvi is imagining an alternate reality in which he’s not quite a solo act, but the leader of his own “Splash Band.”

In addition to “Splash Band” instrumentalists Jet, Dalgo, and Silas appearing on the album, Benzvi’s collaborative mentality manifests in a handful of lovely guests, like Blood Orange, SSION, Porches’ Aaron Maine, Club Eat’s Ren G, and more. It’s also an excuse for Benzvi to expand and reimagine his sound. Where his last album Acts of Service often retreated to softer, sweeter dream pop, Benzvi goes full pop mode on …And His Splash Band — so much so that in the video for lead single “Dust,” Ruby McCollister plays a hilarious and overbearing record executive demanding that Benzvi and the band turn in a hit single for her.

But even beyond the hi-fi production and refined alt-pop, Benzvi deepens his writing about romance and lets his silky baritone shine. The Blood Orange-assisted “Other Guys” strikes the balance between cozy and affecting, while the recent single “2N4” is a warm offering that propels the listener straight into Benzvi’s subconscious desires. Indeed, …And His Splash Band is a level-up in multiple ways for Benzvi, who sounds as great solo as he does when surrounded by collaborators.

Stream …And His Splash Band below, and read on for Liam Benzvi’s Track by Track breakdown.

“Take Care of Me”:

The first song I wrote when I began writing this album. I wanted a slow-burning siren song. The band and I were fooling around under the Manhattan Bridge and Dalgo was watching Boogie Nights on his iPhone while I was listening through demos. Our phones were noise colliding until suddenly, a minute during the Julianne Moore “cum on my tits” scene, under the bridge, we put our iPhones together like Legos and let the song play over the scene. That’s when I knew it was done.

“Other Guys (ft. Blood Orange)”:

“Other Guys” is about working on the dreaded assembly line of love and identity: piecing together palatable haunted doll versions of ourselves for the sake of o ther guys . We know they’ll find happy homes, but for now, they remain stuck in the limbo of assembly and application — a relatable human feeling! Dev Hynes and I reminisced one day about our time spent on the line – albeit at different times: How it feels and what it means to assemble and be assembled simultaneously. We start singing and harmonizing together. Before we know it, we’re running to the studio, our boots sloshing through the rain, to cut the record.

“Dust”:

“Dust” first came to be from a conversation I had with my friend Thora. She said that the guy she was seeing told her “you’re too magnetic so all the dust comes your way” when she was going through a hard time. Everyone in the band also had a cold, and we would take turns being “the doctor” for each other. Thora’s words, combined with my own rotted emotions, catapulted me into a hygiene spiral. As the doctor that week, I made sure we were on our hands and knees for at least an hour a day with a spray towel. I think this kept us sick for longer than we needed to be, but that’s when the song really blossomed.

“Toysick (ft. Ren G)”:

The boys and I went to Ren’s penthouse downtown to blow off some steam. When we go to ring her buzzer, Ren’s cranky neighbor interrupts us at the door to tell us how many gentlemen callers Ren has on a weekly basis, and how loud they always are. Her building just went co-op. When we get to Ren’s door, she says “Did you see Amy at the door? She’s not a fan.” Inside Ren’s apartment is a sprawling skyline view. She just moved in so it’s just patio furniture she’s inherited from her aunt in Long Island. We take a load off on the chaise and start talking numbers. Barcodes. The assembly line was rough today. Walls of sound. Sex, Love, Greed, and definitely Money.

“Serious Lover Boy”:

“Serious Love Boy” is a lovebomb fantasy. The gall to be headless. We’ve all been there!

“Double Homicidal Man”:

Splash band member Dalgo was/is a gigolo and regaled us one night with a massage story. He had his hands deep in someone’s quicksand back, but in typical Dalgo fashion, he turned his client into his therapist, talking their ear off. Zero relaxation. The client ended up threatening Dalgo’s life after the 45 minutes were up. We thought the whole experience sounded like a great pop song!

“PTLSD (ft. SSION)”:

Cody and I are driving around in his convertible: we’ve had a few ginger shots, our eyes are bloodshot, and the sun is coming up. We had just spent the whole night on a docked luxury liner. There was a party on the basement deck, underwater. My band is still there. Cody and I start singing “PTLSD” on our way to the nearest airport. We feel the urgent need to leave town… and now we’re going 90mph. I whip out my SM7 mic, wind be damned, and we record the song.

“2n4”:

“2N4” is an earworm I’ve been playing on the piano for over 5 years. Of all the songs on the record, it feels the most ingrained in my sense of memory. And it’s the poppiest song on the record. It’s meant to be kind of like if Cornelius produced George Michael’s “Amazing”. I like where my voice sits in it. I’m grateful to my band, and my production and compositional partners Nightfeelings, Henry Solomon, and Billy Lemos.

“Summertime”:

Summer in New York can be dark. We suffer at the hands of the hot weather, the plans to be made, the FOMO, the pressure to indulge. The band and I naturally decided to write about it. “Show me the tattoo on your arm, you’re not very far” is lifted from our app conversations, and “Save the love you make tonight” begs the question… are you gonna see this summer person again?

“Shoulder”:

Aaron [Maine] invited me and the Splash boys to his studio in Soho. We were approached on the street by a recruiter… for the National Guard. We told him thank you for your service but UP YOURS. The recruiter chased us down Mercer and we hid in the Gucci store. About 30 minutes passed, and we felt it safe to return to the street, drunk on champagne because we were trying on suits. We entered Aaron’s studio and Aaron had an instrumental ready to go. Morose from the booze, we felt bad about running from this poor recruiter, who was probably recruiting against his will — his superior pulling the strings. We imagined he probably had a lover he missed. This is the story of a poor soldier, tasked with the impossible: trying to get us to join the armed forces.

“Breakdown”:

“Breakdown” is the horniest song on the record. And the best way to end it because of that. Lecx Stacy and I schemed in LA about it after a long night of primal screaming in the woods by his studio.

Liam Benzvi Breaks Down New Album …And His Splash Band Track by Track: Exclusive
Paolo Ragusa