"Above all, I'm focused on not fixing my musical style. I want to build a catalog that shows more than just a musical personality. It should document the development of an evolving musician."

In 2018, Benjamin Amaru sent his first single on its digital world tour. The track was called "Water Falls" and the artist had just celebrated his twentieth birthday. But "Water Falls" certainly didn't sound like the clumsy attempt of a beginner. Even with the airy electronic marimba riffs that led through the track, Amaru demonstrated his fine feel for unusual arrangements. Meanwhile, his voice glided serenely like a surfer over the waves of the elastic melody, appearing just as relaxed in the soulful troubadour register as in falsetto, in which he provided his own backing vocals. It is the precocious "blueprint" for everything Amaru has composed since then. And yet it sounds very different from the music he creates today.

Improvisation and spontaneity, plus an open ear and the willingness to respond to unconventional ideas: these are the cornerstones of every Amaru song. "A melody comes to me in the studio, I play it a hundred, two hundred times, then I sit down and ask myself: what do these notes mean? I like to develop a musical structure that I then sing into myself until only words come out that are there for this song. This can take 15 minutes, sometimes 30, sometimes two hours, or a few short stages over the course of the week. But it always has to come directly, otherwise I throw everything overboard."