Jessie Ware is irreplaceable, but the mysterious production team BenZel have now officially proved they can achieve similar electro-soul raptures all on their own. BenZel, who if we’re to believe their too-good-to-be-true backstory are two Japanese teenagers with “a profound appreciation for ’90s R&B and J. Dilla,” recently teamed with the Devotion singer on “If You Love Me,” an arresting update of a 1994 hit by L.A. vocal group Brownstone. Now, BenZel stick to their R&B-haunted, Burial-shadowed style on follow-up song and video “Fallin’ Love” (via Discobelle).
Stylist Haley Wollens, who directed the previous video and also recently won praise from MNDR for their work together, here tends to favor crotch shots and bong hits, which for some of us might push the latest clip closer into the skeezy territory the pole-dancing “If You Love Me” visuals only skirted. But the song, labeled on SoundCloud as just a demo, is well worth checking out either way, its chopped ‘n’ screwed-like vocal wobbles and slow-motion guitar flickers celebrating “fallin’ love” and getting “tipsy” in equal measure. Sometimes, to be fair, it can be hard to tell which is which. The two can even overlap.
