Benedict Cork, Beauty Queen | Song Review 🎵

British singer/songwriter Benedict Cork delivers a stunning piano ballad on “Beauty Queen,” the fourth single from his debut, Notes on a Hopeless Romance.

Who doesn’t adore a moving piano ballad? British singer/songwriter Benedict Cork excels at piano balladry.  A case in point is “Beauty Queen”, the fourth single from his debut album, Notes on a Hopeless Romance (arrives May 10, 2024).  Cork penned this gorgeous ballad, which features superb, thoughtful, and vulnerable lyricism.  Furthermore, the music, led by piano accompaniment, is ear-catching too.  He produced “Beauty Queen” alongside Paul Stanborough. The result – a stunning pop gem. 

The music is terrific.  That said, the focal point of “Beauty Queen” is the handsome, talented fella himself, Benedict Cork.  He delivers expressive vocals from the opening to the closing tip.  Early on, his vocals are tender.  Couple this tenderness with transparent, vulnerable lyrics and you have something that is extra special. “I’m always in this silent war with the body I live in,” he asserts, authentically and honestly in the first verse. His pain is our listening pleasure, and also, relatable.  He shows off in the section to beat, the chorus, spoiling us with a ripe falsetto.

“The curtain falls and I’m still fucking lonely

It’s like I’m tryna make the whole world love me

But when they call me beauty queen

It’ll fix this broken part of me

Yeah I just want the audience to want me

Until the whole world

La la la la la la la la loves me.”

Radiant! The chorus is fabulous, but the bridge also deserves some love. The harmonic progression during the bridge is ear-catching. Furthermore, the contrast exhibited in the bridge compared to the rest of “Beauty Queen” is a selling point. The lyrics are among the best of the song (“Oh, youth is like a treasure chest / But it’s worthless when there’s nothing left / This currency, commodity / Will it fix this broken part of me again and again”). Cork caps things off with a fabulous, tender ending, much like the epic  “Beauty Queen” commenced.  This song right here is, to reiterate, a stunning pop gem.

Benedict Cork // Notes on a Hopeless Romance // Benedict Cork // 5.10.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Benedict Cork; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]