Ben&Ben celebrates nine years as a band with Nine, a nine-track anthology that revisits some of the group's defining songs while introducing a new track, “Harinawa.”
The album looks back at the band's musical journey without treating its earlier work as finished chapters. Instead, Ben&Ben re-recorded and reworked selected songs from its catalog to reflect how its members have developed as musicians and performers since the band's formation.
For the group and its fanbase, known as Liwanag, Nine connects the band's early years with its present sound while pointing toward what comes next.
What is Ben&Ben’s ‘Nine’ album?
Nine is a nine-track anthology built around songs that represent different points in Ben&Ben's nine-year journey.
Rather than simply compiling previously released recordings, the band revisited the material and changed elements of the arrangements, instrumentation and production.
The approach allowed the members to record familiar songs from their perspective in 2026, after years of performing them on stage and developing together as a nine-piece group.
Lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Paolo Benjamin described the process as allowing the songs to “grow up” with the band.
The reworked recordings retain the emotional character associated with Ben&Ben while reflecting the musicians' experiences since the original songs were created.
Why did Ben&Ben reimagine its earlier songs?
The members approached the project as an opportunity to revisit music that had accompanied significant stages of their career.
The band's nine years included extensive live performances, collaborations and experiences with listeners that changed how the musicians understood their own material.
For Nine, those experiences became part of the production process.
Lead guitarist and backing vocalist Poch Barretto said the band drew inspiration from its years of performing, including experiences on stage and with Liwanag. The group also wanted to bring the chemistry of its live performances into the studio.
That meant balancing the spontaneity and energy of a concert with the detail possible in a studio recording.
The result is intended to sound familiar without simply reproducing the original recordings.
Which Ben&Ben song is featured as the album’s focus track?
The album's focus track is “Maybe the Night (Reimagined)”, a song with particular significance in Ben&Ben's history.
The original “Maybe the Night” was the first song the nine members worked on collectively from beginning to end. The band arranged the song during a session in Jam Villanueva's attic in 2017.
The reimagined version brings that early composition into the band's current musical perspective.
Bassist Agnes Reoma recalled the song's importance to the group's early journey, including performances and opportunities that followed its release.
Nearly a decade later, the track provides a direct connection between the band's beginnings and the musicians they have become.
What is new about ‘Harinawa’?
While much of Nine looks backward, the album ends with something entirely new.
“Harinawa” was written and completed in 2026, making it the anthology's forward-looking piece.
The song provides a transition between the band's retrospective material and its next chapter. Rather than ending solely with a look at the past, Ben&Ben uses the new song to leave the album open-ended.
That structure gives Nine two distinct functions: it revisits the music that established the band while introducing listeners to where its songwriting is heading next.
Who worked on Ben&Ben’s ‘Nine’?
The album brought together musicians and collaborators who have been part of Ben&Ben's creative history.
JP Verona, who has worked with the group since its first album, contributed his familiarity with the band's established sound.
Producer Ziv brought another perspective to the project, while Poch Barretto led the album's overall production.
The recordings also include Luke and Eo on drums for songs recorded during Jam Villanueva's recovery from an injury.
The album's visual identity was developed by photographer and visual artist Sara Erasmo, whose work for the project reflects its themes of memory and the band's journey.
What does ‘Nine’ mean for Ben&Ben?
For a band that has spent nearly a decade recording and performing together, Nine functions as both an archive and a creative reset.
The album allows Ben&Ben to revisit songs that helped establish its identity while acknowledging that the musicians who originally created them have changed.
It also gives longtime Liwanag members another way to hear familiar songs, while providing newer listeners with an introduction to some of the band's catalog.
Percussionist and backing vocalist Toni Muñoz said the group hopes the nine songs can accompany listeners wherever they are in their lives.
With “Harinawa” closing the collection, Nine ultimately looks in two directions: toward the experiences that shaped Ben&Ben and toward the music that may follow.
