Ben&Ben Lets “Leaves” Grow Up With Us With Its Reimagined Version
- August 27, 2026
Nine years after its release, Ben&Ben revisits “Leaves” with a more mature take on second chances, and growing with people we choose to keep.
There are songs we remember because they were good. Then there are songs we remember because we were a different person when we first heard them. For Ben&Ben’s “Leaves,” it becomes the latter.
Nine years after the song first found its way into the lives of the band’s listeners, Liwanags, the group is returning to it with “Leaves (Reimagined),” a new version that looks at the familiar song from a more mature place. Rather than simply recreating the original, Ben&Ben has reshaped its sound with orchestral elements, giving its quieter moments more texture and its emotional peaks more weight.
Ben&Ben said the reimagined version reflects how much life can change as people grow older, particularly when it comes to relationships that remain constant through those changes. For the band, the song now carries ideas of forgiveness, second chances, and the difficulty of growing alongside the people we love.
When the original track first came out, its message of healing could feel like reassurance that difficult seasons eventually pass and things can become lighter. Nine years later, the song can sound less like an assurance that everything will simply be okay and more like an acknowledgment that healing often requires work, patience, and sometimes another chance.
The band connects that idea to the relationships that survive different seasons of life, whether between family members, best friends, or romantic partners. Forgiveness, in this sense, isn’t presented as forgetting what happened. It becomes part of the difficult process of choosing to continue with someone.
Instead of replacing the intimacy that made the original resonate, the added instrumentation gives the song more room to expand. Ben&Ben described wanting the quieter sections to feel more nuanced and the bigger moments more emotional, while still keeping them grounded in something “lived-in.”
The people who first heard “Leaves” nine years ago have grown up with it. So has Ben&Ben. The band specifically pointed to its Liwanags, as part of that journey. Revisiting the song became a way of reflecting not only on the band’s own growth but also on how its listeners have changed with them.
“Leaves” has already lived several lives in the hands of its listeners. The new version simply gives it another one. Ben&Ben has previously explored this idea through its Reimagined releases, including “Lifetime (Reimagined),” but the band says “Leaves” required a different creative process. Revisiting these songs has shown them that each one can develop its own musical, lyrical, and melodic direction rather than simply receiving a new arrangement.
Ben&Ben was named Duo/Group Artist of the Year at the 17th PMPC Star Awards for Music in June for its work on The Traveler Across Dimensions, and the group is also nominated at the 39th Awit Awards for “Saranggola.” It is set to bring that music to the Smart Araneta Coliseum for Saranggola: The Concert on October 2.
