Ben Bazen

Simge's debut EP Yeni Çıktı, which was released in 2011, "was knocked against the wall" due to unsuccessful promotion, but in 2015 her main breakthrough came with the single "Miş Miş", which entered the music chart in Turkey.[1][2] However, in early 2016 she released the song "Yankı" that was different from any of her previous works in terms of style and composition. "Yankı" was later followed by two sequels, "Prens & Prenses" and "Üzülmedin mi?",[3] all centered around a sad love story. The singles took Simge away from the moving and oriental style of "Miş Miş", and she instead started to work on slow-paced songs. Simge explained this change as follows:[4]

Simge performing at IF Performance Hall in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, October 2018

After I released ‘Miş Miş’, I started to fear that everyone was waiting for me to produce songs only with this style. I even had nights when I couldn't sleep. But I decided to take a risk. 'Yankı' is something in the middle: neither fast nor slow, and of intermediate speed. You can see that the playful Simge was replaced by a cold woman, who was telling a story.... 'Miş Miş' demonstrates an oriental woman. Actually I didn't want to be that oriental, but it somehow worked out. For me it was a good PR song. I'll continue my way with songs like 'Yankı' but people will see playful Simge regularly as well.

In January 2017, after the release of "Prens & Prenses", Simge announced in an interview that together with her boyfriend, musician Ozan Bayraşa, she had been working on her first studio album for two months.[5] In August, at a concert in Manavgat, Antalya, she discussed the album again and said: "An exceptional album is on its way, so I think you should prepare your handkerchiefs. Large amounts of tear will flow. But we're gonna play as well. There are going to be songs like 'Miş Miş' and songs like 'Yankı' in it."[6] In late November, she released the song "Üzülmedin mi?" as a promotional single for her album.[7] For "Üzülmedin mi?" and the other songs on the album, Simge worked with Ozan Bayraşa, Ersay Üner and Sezen Aksu, with whom she had previously worked on her other projects.[5] Although the album's preparations lasted two years, Simge had started collecting songs almost four years before its eventual release. Inspired by the works released in the 1990s, Simge decided to include songs in the album that were able to affect her emotionally while listening to them for the first time. She recorded the demos of the songs first, and chose the ones that were suitable for her voice for the album.[8][9] She eventually named the album after the song "Ben Bazen", believing that this title would reflect the entire content of her work.[10]

Ben Bazen's studio recordings began in late 2016 and continued until the second quarter of 2018.[5][11] In March 2018, she announced that the last two songs had not been recorded yet, and in the following month she stated that the recording was over and the album had been completed and the whole album was ready.[12][13] The recording of the songs took place at various studios in Istanbul, including Bayrak Records, Deneyevi Studio, Digilog by TC, Kaya Müzik Studios, Ozy Records, Serkan Ölçer Home Studio, Studio Lonca, Stüdyo 18 and Yıldız Technical University Voice Recording Studios. The vocal recordings of almost all the songs were performed by Ozan Bayraşa and a few of them were done by Emir Akbulut and Mustafa Karaduman.[14] In April, mixing of the songs was finished and they began working on mastering.[15] Mastering was done by Emre Kıral at Kaya Müzik Studios.[14]

Ben Bazen is a dance-pop album.[16] It also contains a wide range of other musical elements, including deep house, R&B, rock, trap and türkü. The "use of different instruments and its richness in rhythm" are some of the album's strong points according to a number of critics.[16][17][18] A variety of different musicians with different styles helped with the album's preparation. Simge later said that she was trying to create a story for the songs in this album, and stated: "This album is like a book of stories about a girl who doesn't give up and sometimes wants to go... It contains a lot of soul and emotions."[1] She also said that the songs are a reflection of herself and "about a woman who talks about love in a sweet way, someone who does not cause pain for her partner".[19]

The album's lead single "Ben Bazen" was written and composed by Ersay Üner, telling the story of a person who wants to get away from the environment she's trapped in. Despite having an acoustic beginning, together with its chorus it turns into a dance song.[19] The song that comes after it, "Pes Etme", was written by Alper Narman and discusses how "one should stand behind her love".[20] In Michael Kuyucu's opinion "Ram Ta Tam", written and composed by Selim Siyami, resembles "Pes Etme" as it "both can make you dance and make you sad" and its lyrics are centered on the similar theme.[20][21] The fourth song, "Üzülmedin mi?", written by Ersay Üner, is centered around the ravage after facing an unfaithfulness.[3] First performed by Onurr for his album Bir Kahramanlık Hikayesi (2017), "Hu" features instrumental elements and was re-recorded by Simge and put in as the album's fifth song.[17] "Ayrılık Yazması" was written by Gökhan Şahin and composed by Simge herself.[14] Composed by Alper Narman and Onurr, the seventh song "Aşkın Olayım" include pop rock elements and like the previous two songs is slow-paced.[18]

The dance song "İster İnan İster İnanma" with its rising tempo, has sounds from Simge's concerts at its beginning and end, giving the listener the experience of a live event.[17][18] In its arrangement, stringed voices stand out first, and the lyrics, written by Alper Narman and Onurr, are about the future of a love affair and the fact that the end is good or bad is uncertain.[14][21] Sezen Aksu and Sibel Algan wrote the oriental song "Öpücem", and its composition features Greek and raï elements.[18][22] Its main theme centers around the chase and escape between a person and her partner.[17] "Yalnız Başına" with its guitar sounds and the electronic song "Kalp Kırmak" both have a slow-paced tempo. The song that follows them, "Aşkın Olayım" by Onurr, is of deep house style.[18] The eleventh song "Üzülmedin mi?" is an acoustic recording. The final song "Gülümseyişinle Uyandım" was written and composed by Simge at the age of 14, her first ever musical work.[19]

The album's main cover shows Simge holding a guitar with one hand and a microphone with the other, and was first published by her on 27 May 2018 on her Instagram account.[23] All of Ben Bazen's photographs, including its cover, were taken by Nihat Odabaşı in February at Hayyam Studio in Beyoğlu'.[17][24] Simge's stylist for the photo shoot was Anıl Can, while Seçkin Songüç did her makeup and Nuri Şekerci served as her hairstylist.[14] Michael Kuyucu, found the photographs "as successful as the album itself" and stated: "Finally a pop singer came out and took photos like a young normal girl, distancing herself from the image of a star performer".[21] Music critic Yavuz Hakan Tok wrote: "There is Simge on the cover who emphasizes on her musician's side, which has become a visual that suits this album."[18]

The album was released on 1 June 2018 by Doğan Music Company on Spotify Turkey and other digital platforms.[25] At the same time, its physical sale began at the music markets.[26] The album was given the Best Album award at the 7th Ayaklı Newspaper TV Stars Awards.[27] It also earned Simge a nomination for the Best Female Pop Musician award at the 45th Golden Butterfly Awards.[28] The album was also nominated for the Most Powerful Album award at the 2019 PowerTürk Music Awards. Its lead single received a nomination as the Most Powerful Song and Simge herself was a nominee for the Most Powerful Female Singer award.[29] At the 16th Radio Boğaziçi Music Awards, Simge won the Best Female Pop Music Artist award. The album was also nominated for the Best Album award but lost it to Mabel Matiz's Maya (2018).[30] According to Telifmetre, Simge was the second female artist with the most number of streams in Turkey in 2018 after Hande Yener.[31] She was also the female singer with the most number of listeners on the digital music platform Muud and the fifth female artist with the most number of streams on Spotify Türkiye.[32][33]

Simge, together with Ozan Bayraşa, performs "Üzülmedin mi?" at the 15th Radio Boğaziçi Music Awards, May 2018

Simge promoted Ben Bazen through digital music platforms, concerts, television and radio programs. A part of the promotion was done by Spotify Türkiye, through advertisement in the main area of Istanbul and on the billboards and shopping centers. Also, to announce the album's release, Spotify placed Simge's name on top of its Türkçe Pop list for one week.[25] Alongside the promotion on digital platforms, Simge began to give concerts in various locations in Turkey and Northern Cyprus after the album's release.[34] She also had a live performance on Pal FM,[35] appeared on an interview with Radio Boğaziçi,[36] took part in Show Radio's Cafe Show[37] and appeared on TRT FM's program Ada Vapuru.[38] In June, together with Edis, she appeared on NTV's program En Güzel Buluşmalar and talked about her career and the album's preparation process.[39] In October, a party with the theme of kissing was held in Karaköy, Beyoğlu, for her song "Öpücem" (I'll Kiss).[40] She later appeared on CNN Türk's program Şeffaf Oda by Güneri Cıvaoğlu and then on TV8's program Eser Yenenler Show and performed songs from her album.[41][42] She also appeared in Habertürk TV's program Aslı Şafak'la İşin Aslı, together with album's photographer Nihat Odabaşı and gave information about the album's visual designing.[43]

Ben Bazen received positive reviews from various music critics. The rhythm variety in the songs was appreciated and the collaboration with Ozan Bayraşa throughout the album was found successful. The critics also pointed out the "quality and coolness" in the songs.[70][21] Hürriyet's Naim Dilmener gave the album 4 out of 5 and stated that it had "renewed pop" and "All of the songs are above average.... All of the musicians have designed melodies suitable for the highly melodic and perfectly vocalized songs. None of the selected rhythms are dry; even in fast songs, they have avoided leaning on a single rhythm. Ben Bazen is a good album. Simge was curious about what to do after the success of her single, and her concerns resulted in a very good work."[16][71] Hikmet Demirkol from the same newspaper pointed out the different music style in the album and said: "Among the musical works of Simge, it's a hit made as a result of bold and firm steps... It's an exquisite album made out of songs that connect together like a chain of pearls."[17] Demirkol later included Ben Bazen in his list of 2018's best albums.[72] Milliyet's Mayk Şişman praised the teamwork in the songs and noted the settling of Simg's musical style with this album: "It's right to praise this album, as Simge's Ben Bazen is a result of her moving towards her musical goals, and addressing her musical concerns."[70]

Hayat Müzik's critic Yavuz Hakan Tok also praised the album and wrote: "It takes sufficient influence from both past and present, the elements and the genre have been chosen correctly, the musicality is good, Ben Bazen is a good pop album. Simge shows her progress after the success of her previous pop singles with this new album. While it consolidates her position, it also assures you what you can expect next."[18] On his review, Michael Kuyucu liked the album and praised Ozan Bayraşa's arrangements and said: "Simge shows justified success and rise in this album.... An excellent album when it comes to the interpretation of Simge's work and image, and the arrangements and the sound of the songs."[21] Habertürk's Oben Budak found the album successful and wrote: "It is not an album that you will go and listen to once and set it aside after, or to get tired of it after listening to it for the third time, its content needs to be digested."[22] He also believed that Simge was "one of the rare names that could break the boring uniformity of pop music."[73] NTV.com.tr's reviewer Suat Kavukluoğlu, who praised the teamwork in the album, wrote that the songs formed a bridge to the past: "Feeding itself from the roots of pop music, Ben Bazen is based on the works of many legendary figures from Madonna to Sezen Aksu."[74]

• Ben Bazen at Discogs