Nearly a decade after its original release, the band revisits “Leaves” with a fuller sound and a deeper perspective on forgiveness, growth, and second chances.
Some songs grow alongside the people who listen to them. Nearly a decade after “Leaves” first became a defining song for Ben&Ben, the award-winning band is giving its enduring ballad a new life with “Leaves (Reimagined),” an expansive reinterpretation shaped by years of change, experience, and growing together.
Rather than recreate the original, “Leaves (Reimagined)” approaches the song from a more mature emotional perspective. Orchestral arrangements sit alongside the band’s familiar sound, adding dimension to the quieter passages while allowing the song’s emotional peaks to land with greater weight.
The band says the reimagining was partly inspired by the emotional complexity that comes with growing older.
“We wanted to highlight how much more dynamic life is emotionally when you grow up and grow older, and for this project, we wanted to explore the use of orchestral sounds playing alongside the band. This is because we wanted to make the quiet parts more nuanced and the grand parts more emotional, but in a ‘lived-in’ way.”
That lived-in quality is what separates “Leaves (Reimagined)” from a straightforward remake. The song now exists in the context of everything Ben&Ben and its Liwanag have experienced since the original was released—from love and loss to uncertainty, change, and the relationships that endure through it all.
“Since we have grown up—and so have our* Liwanag*—in the past nine years, we wanted to encapsulate what that experience is like through the lyrics of this song,” Ben&Ben shares. “We think that if we are to live a life with someone constant with us, whether it be family, a best friend, or a romantic partner, the concept of giving someone another chance will always be a given.”
At its core, the reimagined track finds new resonance in the idea of second chances. As people grow older, relationships inevitably evolve, and forgiveness can become less about forgetting what happened and more about choosing to continue moving forward together.
The band previously explored this approach with “Lifetime (Reimagined),” but says that revisiting “Leaves” opened an entirely different creative path.
“Leaves definitely demanded a different creative process,” Ben&Ben says. “One cool discovery we had was that even in the process of breathing new air into each song, continuing their respective stories leads into very different trajectories in many layers: melodically, lyrically, and musically. Each song really has a life of its own.”
That idea of songs having lives of their own feels especially fitting for “Leaves,” a track that has remained part of Ben&Ben’s story as the band has evolved. What once spoke to listeners through its understated tenderness can now be heard through a more expansive sonic palette and the perspective of artists who have spent years growing alongside their audience.
The reimagining arrives during another significant chapter for Ben&Ben. In June, the band was named Duo/Group Artist of the Year at the 17th PMPC Star Awards for Music, recognizing its work on its latest album, The Traveler Across Dimensions.
The group is also nominated at the 39th Awit Awards, including nods for Record of the Year, Best Performance by a Group, and Best Pop Recording for “Saranggola.”
Those milestones lead into another major moment for the band: Saranggola: The Concert, set for October 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The show promises to bring together the music, memories, and community that have defined Ben&Ben’s journey.
With “Leaves (Reimagined),” the band similarly looks back while keeping its eyes on what comes next. It is a song that has changed because the people behind it have changed—and because the listeners who found meaning in it have grown, too.
Nearly nine years later, “Leaves” is no longer simply a song about a particular moment. In its new form, it becomes a reflection on what it means to stay, forgive, grow, and choose another chance.
Ben&Ben’s “Leaves (Reimagined)” is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide via Sony Music Entertainment.
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