MANILA, Philippines – OPM band Ben&Ben released a new album Friday, November 29, titled The Traveller Across Dimensions. The 12-track album — divided into three chapters — also came with animated visuals.
An animated music video of the first single, “Triumph,” offered a sneak peek into the concept of the whole album. In a Rappler Talk interview, the band members said they wrote it to be their own fight song, and hoped that it could be other people’s fight song, too.
In the album, listeners can follow the journey of the central character Liwanag, and her adventures to find inner peace. She goes through the three symbolic realms – Light, Energy, and Feel (which are the album’s chapters). There are also other characters that enrich the story: Gabay, a wise traveler; Puhon, Liwanag’s loyal pet; and Mahiwaga, another traveller on a parallel quest.
Band vocalist Paolo Benjamin said they wanted to tell the story of the human experience. “We begin with wide-eyed innocence, and then we encounter pain, and then we encounter struggles. And then go out of that, hopefully, with a renewed sense of hope, but this time, with maturity,” he said.
In the process of completing The Traveller Across Dimensions, the band members also said they have been fascinated by visual storytelling for a long time and really wanted to explore having animated videos to complement their music. This prompted the collaboration with animators from Puppeteer Studios.
Looking back on their relationship as a band, Toni Muñoz shared their music is greatly affected by their friendship as a group. “Para na talaga kaming magkakapatid. Na-witness namin paano nagbabago ang mga life happenings namin individually, paano kami nagbabago bilang mga tao. At hindi ‘yun madali. Pero ‘yun ‘yung nag-glue sa ‘min together… Malaki ang factor n’un sa pagbuo ng album na ‘to,” she said.
(We really feel like we’re siblings. We witnessed how our individual life happenings have changed, how we changed as individuals over the years. And that was not easy, but that glued us together. That was a big factor in completing this album.)
The 9-piece act will hold its first arena concert on December 14, 2024, at the Mall of Asia Arena, promising fans an “innovative, multi-dimensional experience.” The band members said the show will create an immersive, audio-visual experience that takes the audience through the album’s narrative in real time — touting the LED wristbands similar to the ones used during the concert tours of Coldplay and Taylor Swift.
Ben&Ben started with the twins Paolo Benjamin and Miguel Benjamin. In 2017, the other members joined in: Poch Barretto on guitars, Jam Villanueva on drums, Agnes Reoma on bass, Pat Lasaten on keys, Andrew de Pano, Toni Muñoz on percussions, and Keifer Cabugao on violin. – Rappler.com
