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Cheyenne Benton: Putting a microphone on a hammer
New album Corrupted came out of a place of pain and betrayal
Cheyenne Benton’s 2023 debut album Beautiful Chaos was described in promotional material as “bubblegum angst.” Her song “Drinkin’ About U” was nominated Best R&B, Funk, or Soul Song at the 2023 San Diego Music Awards. But her upcoming sophomore album Corrupted steers away from all those genres, instead offering a more gritty and heavy sound. The new record is constructed around feelings of feminine rage, anger, grief and a collapse of trust — not just in relationships, but also in herself. In the context of the album, the word “corrupted” speaks about Benton’s experience as a female musician navigating through the music industry right now.
Video:
Cheyenne Benton: "Drinkin' About U"
“This album is really dark,” Benton explains. “I’ve had betrayals in friendships, and professional creative disagreements, and obviously romantic betrayals, but I had an unfortunate situation that kind of hit all those boxes. That really took me off the map for a second. It really made me question not only my friendships to other people, but also my professional relationships. I think people handle those experiences in different ways. For me, I went completely internal. Then, the other part of me turned to music to cope and process it.”
Some of the album’s songs were written as early as 2021. “I wrote this at the height of my pain. While creating the record, a lot of reflection has happened. I’m over the hump, so to speak, and trying to get back to a place of balance and healing.” Asked if there was a track on the record that most reveals who she is right now, Benton says “I think maybe [the song] ‘Void,’ which is still a little bit on the hopeless side. I’d like to think I’m moving in a direction where I’m able to find small pockets of joy again in a very weird round-about completing the circle kind of way. Writing that song was surrendering to the unknown.”
Serving as a scorching anti-love letter, Corrupted was written, produced, and engineered by Benton herself. Production on the album started in 2023. Around half of the record was produced at Studio West, and the other half was a DIY operation using an interface in her house. “This record was difficult for me to write,” Benton admits. “So, you can imagine it was difficult to record. I took frequent breaks in between those processes.”
As far as how the record was mixed, she says “It was very different from the previous record. Before, I had three different colleagues that were all in one place at Studio West. For this record, one of my colleagues moved to Nashville, working remotely, so we’d be sending things back and forth. Then my other colleague would mix it at home, or sometimes at the studio. This time around, it was a lot more of stringing things together. It was a lot more of an intuitively collaborative process.” Wanting to put forth a grungy snare sound in the opening track titled “Prologue,” Benton got creative with her colleagues by putting a microphone on a hammer, finding a dumpster outside of the studio, and smashing it to find the snare sound to layer.
When it came to creating the texture, visuals and imagery for the album, Benton knew she wanted it to have hues of darkness to match the sonic landscape she created. Colors that represent grief, anger, and sadness are ever present in the songwriter’s unflinching honesty about the pain it took to put the album together. “When I’m hearing sound, it’s very colorful to me,” she says. “Before we even finished the album, I knew I wanted the colors to be dark toned. So, there was a lot of maroon and red. Dark blues and darker greens. The actual album cover is a darker red but also has a lot of darker oranges and black. We melded almost like a psychedelic type of theme into the visuals and imagery for it.”
The seven-track album represents both the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one. “There’s always more to be said. There’s a big part of me that says this is finally a closure of a very long, painful chapter for me, and I’m ready to move forward onto the next thing.”
The record release party for Corrupted happens at the Soda Bar tonight, August 28. The official launch on streaming platforms will be August 29, which happens to be Benton’s 27th birthday. “It was a weird, happy accident. For an album that’s so dark, I’m feeling very optimistic about it.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Cheyenne Benton: Putting a microphone on a hammer
New album Corrupted came out of a place of pain and betrayal
Cheyenne Benton: Putting a microphone on a hammer
New album Corrupted came out of a place of pain and betrayal
Cheyenne Benton’s 2023 debut album Beautiful Chaos was described in promotional material as “bubblegum angst.” Her song “Drinkin’ About U” was nominated Best R&B, Funk, or Soul Song at the 2023 San Diego Music Awards. But her upcoming sophomore album Corrupted steers away from all those genres, instead offering a more gritty and heavy sound. The new record is constructed around feelings of feminine rage, anger, grief and a collapse of trust — not just in relationships, but also in herself. In the context of the album, the word “corrupted” speaks about Benton’s experience as a female musician navigating through the music industry right now.
Video:
Cheyenne Benton: "Drinkin' About U"
“This album is really dark,” Benton explains. “I’ve had betrayals in friendships, and professional creative disagreements, and obviously romantic betrayals, but I had an unfortunate situation that kind of hit all those boxes. That really took me off the map for a second. It really made me question not only my friendships to other people, but also my professional relationships. I think people handle those experiences in different ways. For me, I went completely internal. Then, the other part of me turned to music to cope and process it.”
Some of the album’s songs were written as early as 2021. “I wrote this at the height of my pain. While creating the record, a lot of reflection has happened. I’m over the hump, so to speak, and trying to get back to a place of balance and healing.” Asked if there was a track on the record that most reveals who she is right now, Benton says “I think maybe [the song] ‘Void,’ which is still a little bit on the hopeless side. I’d like to think I’m moving in a direction where I’m able to find small pockets of joy again in a very weird round-about completing the circle kind of way. Writing that song was surrendering to the unknown.”
Serving as a scorching anti-love letter, Corrupted was written, produced, and engineered by Benton herself. Production on the album started in 2023. Around half of the record was produced at Studio West, and the other half was a DIY operation using an interface in her house. “This record was difficult for me to write,” Benton admits. “So, you can imagine it was difficult to record. I took frequent breaks in between those processes.”
As far as how the record was mixed, she says “It was very different from the previous record. Before, I had three different colleagues that were all in one place at Studio West. For this record, one of my colleagues moved to Nashville, working remotely, so we’d be sending things back and forth. Then my other colleague would mix it at home, or sometimes at the studio. This time around, it was a lot more of stringing things together. It was a lot more of an intuitively collaborative process.” Wanting to put forth a grungy snare sound in the opening track titled “Prologue,” Benton got creative with her colleagues by putting a microphone on a hammer, finding a dumpster outside of the studio, and smashing it to find the snare sound to layer.
When it came to creating the texture, visuals and imagery for the album, Benton knew she wanted it to have hues of darkness to match the sonic landscape she created. Colors that represent grief, anger, and sadness are ever present in the songwriter’s unflinching honesty about the pain it took to put the album together. “When I’m hearing sound, it’s very colorful to me,” she says. “Before we even finished the album, I knew I wanted the colors to be dark toned. So, there was a lot of maroon and red. Dark blues and darker greens. The actual album cover is a darker red but also has a lot of darker oranges and black. We melded almost like a psychedelic type of theme into the visuals and imagery for it.”
The seven-track album represents both the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one. “There’s always more to be said. There’s a big part of me that says this is finally a closure of a very long, painful chapter for me, and I’m ready to move forward onto the next thing.”
The record release party for Corrupted happens at the Soda Bar tonight, August 28. The official launch on streaming platforms will be August 29, which happens to be Benton’s 27th birthday. “It was a weird, happy accident. For an album that’s so dark, I’m feeling very optimistic about it.”
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