Benny Sings has spent more than two decades refining one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary pop music. The Dutch singer, songwriter, and producer has a knack for creating songs that feel immediately familiar—warm keyboards, melodies in soft-focus, touches of soul, jazz, R&B, and 1970s singer-songwriter pop—while often hiding something far more complicated beneath the surface.

That tension is at the heart of his latest album, 22 Durnham Dew. Written during a period of significant change in his life, the record follows a move away from central Amsterdam and toward a quieter, more domestic existence with his family. It’s an album about home, parenthood, transition, and the weird way that everyday life can seep its way into pop music.

Our conversation travels back even further: to his parents’ record collection, his fascination with American pop culture, Sesame Street, Chet Baker, Judee Sill, Rupert Holmes, the Carpenters, and the enduring appeal of music that sounds light even when its emotional center is anything but.

We also talk about vinyl, working alone versus collaborating, why his daughter helped rescue a song he wasn’t sure about, and why—after years of touring, producing, collaborating, and making records—Benny Sings may now be increasingly interested in something much less glamorous: routine, simplicity, and what he jokingly calls “ambitionless music.”