Zach Benson Rings in the New Year

When we last left Zach Benson on this blog I discussed how I discovered him through another gay pop star Yavin around August of 2019. Shortly thereafter I saw Zach live and I also got to talk to him personally at the show before he moved up to New York city. Zach also premiered his double sided single Kitchen and Everything Reminds Me Of You at the show and dropped the songs two days later. A lot has happened to Zach since that show in September even if he hadn't released any new solo material in the interim.

First when I met Zach I introduced him to some of the indie queer artists from New York City such as Kisos, Vardaan Arora and Gregory Dillon. He quickly made friends with all of them after moving to New York City and starting collaborating musically with all of them as well. When I recorded with The Q Review podcast for our look back at 2019 I declared Zach as one of the biggest influencers in queer pop right now and in 2020 Zach proved me correct. Zach began reaching out to other artists offering his help in terms of producing and mixing their songs. Artists such as Bryce, Rletto, Peter Jessy, Exits and more started enlisting Zach to help produce their music and it felt like Zach truly was becoming a lynch pin for the queer pop community.

Zach also ended up releasing an EP entitled Revisited, which saw him remix many of his older songs including a duet with Peter Jessy for a revamped version of Deflated. Still no new solo music from Zach had been released since September until now and that brings us up to date with the release of New Year's Eve.

Let me just say this right off the bat, New Year's Eve was worth the wait! Musically the song gives me strong Katy Perry vibes circa The Teenage Dream album. This comes as no surprise though because Zach wears his Katy Perry fandom as a badge of honor. In fact, Zach has covered the song Teenage Dream and performs it at all his shows including the one I attended. The production and melody of New Year's Eve reminds me especially of Firework, which also makes sense since Zach sings about Fireworks in this song as well:

"You light me up like fireworks on new years eve

oh when you hold me, I could burst on new years eve

start a new revolution

you light me up like fireworks on new years eve."

Zach always has a story to tell in his music and New Year's Eve is no exception. Here Zach sings about that moment when you realize the person you're dating is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Zach captures that giddy thrill of young love in a way that feels genuine and relatable the way Brian Wilson and John Sebastian did in the 60s.
"No, I can’t stop when I start

turned off my head so you know it’s from my heart

thank god I don’t fall apart

but I still mean it

I still mean it

mean it when I say

I want a hundred years of you

of you, of only me and you in love."

Another reason Zach's music is so engaging is because he has a sharp eye for detail. At the start of the song he describes a fun night out that turns into something more due to Zach letting his guard down and speaking from the heart instead of the head.
"I said a little too much

I’d blame the party or the way that you touch

I sipped a little too much

but I still mean it I still mean it

i don’t remember too much we might’ve made it to the club in the dark

(oh my my my)

I hoped nobody would judge

cause we were getting awfully cozy in the corner with the lights ~off~"

Listening to these lyrics I can envision myself there in the midst of the action while also reminding myself of my own stories of young love. That's something great songwriters do and Zach is undoubtedly one of the best. I also love the way he slips in "oh my my my" as well into the verses, which I have to assume is a reference to the Troye Sivan song My My My. My My My is the perfect soundtrack to a gay night on the town and it's details like this that make New Year's Eve feel so lived in and real.

As his first new official solo release of 2020, New Year's Eve reminds me why I fell in love with Zach's music back in September. It's fun but heartfelt, romantic but reckless, genuine but clever and it's a great pop song to boot. Here's hoping Zach has more solo material coming real soon because lord knows we need more feel good bops right now.