Benee has mostly stayed out of the public eye in 2021, save for a cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” that she shared this summer. Now, though, she’s back with new music, as she shared a fresh track called “Doesn’t Matter.” On the calming midtempo track, she gets real about her mental health, opening the song by singing, “What’s it like / To not have to think about it? / It seems nice / Not a care, so quiet.”
Benee says of the song:
“It seems like a very long time since I’ve released any music. This year has been very difficult for me and many other people, and I’ve had times that I’ve really felt my lowest. I wrote ‘Doesn’t Matter’ during one of these periods when I felt truly overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck. I was diagnosed with OCD, which actually helped me understand myself better. This song ponders on what it would be like to feel truly carefree and how much easier life would be. Sometimes, it’s hard for people who don’t suffer from anxiety or depression to really understand what it’s like for us. People telling you not to worry or saying ‘It doesn’t matter’ don’t understand that it’s not that simple. Having had help to learn how to deal with my own anxiety and depression, I want others to know that there is a way through.”
Benee teased the track in a vulnerable Instagram post on Mental Health Day earlier this month (October 10), writing, “2020 was so hard and we thought it couldn’t get worse than that, but we’ve really been tested in 2021. I’ve spent a lot of this year under my weight blanket & not nearly enough time making music which made me feel even worse lol. […] There have been moments when I really felt like I wasn’t going to get through it all ( I know so many of you will relate ). I’m still navigating my own mental health journey but I’m so glad that ppl are finally starting to talk more openly about their own struggles. […] I’ve been filled with so many doubts lately, but knowing that even a few of u might be able to take something away from a post like this makes me want to keep this dialogue going. I’m so grateful to have this platform and I don’t know what I’d be doing without my music shtuff. Please, please reach out to someone if you are struggling . U can get through it. I love all of you so much thank u for sticking around. new music is coming sooner than u think x.”
Watch the “Doesn’t Matter” video above.