City Pop

by Benny Sings

Overview

Soft rock/smooth soul synthesist Tim van Berkestijn had a quietly momentous 2018. His collaboration with Rex Orange County, "Loving Is Easy," snuck into Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and bounced within it for ten weeks. The Amsterdam native's U.S. profile continued to rise with his signing to Stones Throw, the November announcement of which was synchronized with the release of "Passionfruit," a revamp of the Drake hit, not -- as some longtime listeners might have expected -- a medley of tunes from Michael Franks' like-titled album. Two months earlier, van Berkestijn had released his sixth studio album as Benny Sings, City Melody, only in Japan. It forms the basis of his first Stones Throw LP, sporting a revised title that works on multiple levels. City Pop was recorded in Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and most importantly, Tokyo, and shares its name with a late-'70s/early-'80s J-pop subgenre described by supreme connoisseur and Benny Sings contemporary Ed Motta as "AOR and soft rock but with some funk and boogie." Like the artists Motta showcased on his city pop mixes for Wax Poetics, van Berkestijn favors soft rock's openly R&B- and jazz-indebted faction, and uses an assortment of sweet and mellow sounds -- his most organic variety yet -- to underpin his expressions of longing, resolve, and frustration regarding romance. The best of the bunch, including the Mayer Hawthorne-assisted "Not Enough" and the Doobie Brothers-Todd Rundgren compound "Late at Night," can put a tear in your eye and a dip in your hip. The mood subtly lifts on a few occasions, such as the easygoing "Summerlude" and the Cornelius collaboration "My World," a tender lullaby addressed to van Berkestijn's daughter. Moreover, the album concludes shrewdly with the Tokyo version of "Softly" -- originally a City Melody bonus track -- the set's brightest, most direct, and warm-hearted moment, with several Japanese instrumentalists among van Berkestijn's support. What doesn't stick elsewhere at least charms with unbidden sincerity. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	02/22/2019
Label:	Art / Stones Throw
UPC:	0659457240318

Tracks

1. Everything I Know
2. Familiar
3. Not Enough
4. Nakameguro
5. Duplicate
6. Late at Night
7. Summerlude
8. So Far So Good
9. Dreamin'
10. My World
11. Softly (Tokyo)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Benny Sings   Primary Artist,Vocals
Cornelius   Vocals,Keyboards,Featured Artist
Mocky   Vocals,Featured Artist
Keigo Oyamada   Vocals,Keyboards
Andrew Cohen   Beatbox
Masato Ishinari   Guitar
Bart Suer   Saxophone
Vincent Taurelle   Keyboards
Mayer Hawthorne   Beatbox
Faberyayo   Featured Artist
Gwen Thomas   Vocals
Robert Scherpenisse   Trumpet
Adam Bar-Pereg   Keyboards
Satsuki Mutoh   Vocals
Joline Van Berkestijn   Vocals
Jouhei Munemoto   Keyboards
June Fermie   Vocals
Mitsuhiro Konno   Bass

Technical Credits

Cornelius   Arranger,Producer,Programming
Benny Sings   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Keigo Oyamada   Arranger,Producer,Programming
Renaud Letang   Mixing,Producer
Andrew Cohen   Composer,Producer,Programming
Dominic "Mocky" Salole   Composer
Benjamin Joubert   Mastering
Mayer Hawthorne   Producer,Programming
Pepijn Lanen   Composer
Jochem Tromp   Executive Producer
Satsuki Mutoh   Composer
Jordy Van Den Nieuwendijk   Artwork
Rutger De Vries   Design
Ryu Okubo   Artwork