- I often find myself asking what makes the perfect musician. For me, it comes down to one key consideration: did they play accordion in Italian bands around Sydney before moving to Las Vegas to perform Tom Jones covers? If the answer to that question is ‘yes’, you have the perfect musician, and that perfect musician is Donny Benét.
When it comes to Donny, his background in music is extremely important because it’s played a key role in shaping him as an artist. The self-proclaimed ‘D-grade Sydney celebrity, recording artist and relationship guru’ was the son of an Italian disco accordionist. Donny follows in his father’s Italian disco footsteps, adding strong pop and sexual flavours to his music upon realising he had to make it risqué to keep audiences interested while he was in Las Vegas.
Donny returned to Australia in 2010, and begun recording his own music, dropping projects and collaborating with the likes of Jack Ladder and Kirin J Callinan. In 2016, he gave us a taste of his first solo full-length album, The Don, with the steamy single Working Out. Now, finally, he is ready to share, in his own words, “the pure physicality” of the The Don.
“Wanna get high? How about rock climbing?” He asks on Working Out, the album's first cut, which he has described as being about getting hot and sweaty. Love Online and You’re Too Good are two love songs, both self-explanatory, highly-welcomed takes on archetypal disco themes. “I hope I’m good enough to make it work for you / You’re worth the sacrifice, I’ve got nothing to lose,” he croons over his typically jovial synths and bass. The next track is Santorini, which was fittingly released on Valentine’s Day, because The Don is the gift that keeps on giving, and yet another present is delivered on that tune in the form of a delicious sax solo.
Reach The Top kicks off the second half of the album with a Donny B power-ballad sharing a few anecdotes from the time he spent in the States. This is followed by the delightfully catchy single Konichiwa, which is probably his most successful tune to date. The Don concludes with more steaminess on Nights In Rome and the epic '80's film-esque closer Just Leave Him wrapping up a wildly erotic forty minutes.
The Don may not be the most sonically complex album, but what it lacks in the form of experimentation, it makes up for with fun, catchy tunes. He makes enjoyable music, has a cult-like following, and one of the best aesthetics in Australian entertainment. It is time to let Donny Benét serenade you; you won’t regret it.
- Jack Jones.