There sometimes comes a point in the career of an artist that, in the effort (conscious or not) to establish a signature sound, their songs all end up sounding the same.

That may have been the direction Ben&Ben was headed in… and then they released Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno.

Their 12-track sophomore album released on August 29 sees Ben&Ben at their most playful and their most collaborative. 

Six of the album’s tracks feature other artists, from OPM legends like Chito Miranda and KZ Tandingan, to indie favorites Munimuni, to P-pop favorite SB19.

It also sees a tighter collaboration among the band members themselves, at a time when all nine members had been living together in one house for months. The album’s name, Pebble House, comes from the name of the street where they live.

Courtesy of Sony Music Philippines

“Ever since the first day we decided to move in together, little did we know that all our experiences collectively, both the joys and the struggles, would encompass what would eventually be known as our sophomore album,” frontman Miguel said at a press conference on August 27.

Each member was assigned to co-producing one song each. It might have been done for a more practical reason (to save time), but in effect, giving each member their own pet project within the album made sure that no one voice dominated it. 

The result of all these collaborations is Ben&Ben’s all too familiar signature sound bending and twisting itself into different styles and genres for a listening experience that is not only pleasant but pervading.

The order of the tracks is as thoughtfully curated as the rest of the album. The first few tracks are bright and upbeat – as if to recall the general mood of the times, before the pandemic began. 

“These first few songs are very playful, they evoke an emotion that comes into exploring, into freshness, into discovering what life is. I think that sums up how we were before the pandemic, and before we moved in together, and during the first few months of moving in,” Miguel said.

“Kasayaw,” the first song after an instrumental intro track, is bouncy and summery, with a distinct percussive sound and lyrics about a the touch-and-go of a new flirtation. 

The song is followed by “Swimming Pool,” the band’s collaboration with Parokya ni Edgar’s Chito Miranda – and his influence is somehow evident in the wordplay and metaphors in the lyrics. 

The first part is rounded out by “Elyu,” named after the seaside province it was inspired by. For the track, the band worked with Manila String Machine – giving the song more gravitas in the instrumentals. 

The song then gives way to the album’s middle part, where Ben&Ben serves up sonic surprises. The themes take a more somber tune.

There’s an almost achingconfession of love in “Pasalubong,” their second collaboration with Moira dela Torre; a much-needed call to rest and slow down in “Magpahinga.”

In “Lunod,” which features rock-leaning musicians like IV of Spades’ Zild Benitez and Juan Karlos, the band captures the feeling of drowning and being suffocated by one’s inner saboteurs, depicting that feeling with pounding drums, dark instrumentals, and soaring vocals.

In the end, it’s a song that would not be out of place in a rock opera, and certainly something different from the folk-pop band. 

After “Lunod” turns up the drama, the album goes into “Sabel,” the band’s take on “the power of a woman.” Aptly, they chose a powerful female voice to feature – KZ Tandingan – and the pared down arrangement, clapping, and chanting only highlights KZ’s vocals, and the song’s over-all message, basically a woman saying enough is enough.

In “Kapangyarihan,” the band digs deep into an emotion we haven’t quite heard from them yet – rage. The track addresses those in power, calling out their abuse, and reminding them of who they should be serving – the people.

Originally released on social media in 2020, the song’s final version features a rap break by SB19, and a reference to nationalist anthem “Bayan Ko.” It culminates in a rich coda where a repeated chant of “nagsisilbi ka dapat” is layered over the vocalists crying out for truth and justice. 

“Kapangyarihan,” the band said, was the most difficult to complete, if only for all the elements that went into it.

“Yun yung una naming na-arrange pero even sa post-production, siya din yung pinakamatagal talaga kasi sobrang tricky talaga (that was the first song we arranged, but even in post-production, it took the longest. It was really tricky),” percussionist Toni Muñoz said in a Rappler Talk interview on August 31. 

For the band, taking on a bold message is something they’re able to do through music.

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“I think yung maganda sa music, and maganda sa art (what’s great with music and with art) in general is it’s able to speak to the listener in a way that’s beyond the capacity of words, and us as a band, we’re so enamoured with that concept,” vocalist Paolo said on. 

Another collaboration rounds out the album’s middle act: “Sugat,” which features indie band Munimuni, a song about healing, while also honoring one’s past.

The album’s denouement sees the songs a return to a more joyful theme, “but a joy that is a lot deeper than it was at the beginning, because now, you understand that at the end of the day, happiness is something that you have the power to choose no matter how much you’ve been through in your life,” as Miguel said.

There is “Upuan,” a song that captures the feeling of sitting next to someone you really like (and whose music video stars hit love team Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano).

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There is also “Ilang Tulog Nalang,” where Toni takes on vocal duties on the song, which she wrote out of her own experiences with a long-distance relationship. It’s the band’s tribute to barbershop music and jazz standards.

Closing out the album is “Kayumanggi,” a song with all the tenderness of a kundiman, described by the band as “a love song to our identity as a Filipino, a love song to the color of our skin.”

It’s the perfect closing to an album that is, in a way, a tribute to Filipinos and Filipinoness. 

It’s no coincidence that all songs are written Tagalog, and that it was released at the tail end of Buwan ng Wika. The list of collaborators reads like a who’s who of the best of OPM.

The themes speak to the constant Filipino fantasy of the perfect romantic love, but also record sometimes harsh Filipino realities. Even the samples of crashing waves and rustling trees could be seen as a nod to the country’s natural beauty.

Before Pebble House, we already knew who Ben&Ben was. We knew what they sung about, what they sounded like. It was a cozy, familiar sound, distinctly Filipino in the rhythm guitars and percussions. Love songs, the kind that cuts right to the heart. 

In Pebble House, Ben&Ben show us what they can do – that is, pretty much anything they can imagine – which only means there’s more to look forward to from the folk-pop band now that they’ve hit their sophomore stride. – Rappler.com