Ben Aubergine – “Spoke For What I Knew”

Ben Aubergine – “Spoke For What I Knew” – Single Review

99% of the time, you’re going to find me advocating on behalf of looking forward rather than revisiting the past.  I’ve known too many artists and bands that have kept a song or album in their back pocket for so very long, only to finally get around to recording it, and the moment it could have had has now totally passed.  Not this one though – “Spoke For What I Knew” sounds pretty good for being TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OLD!  You read that correctly…I made sure it was in ALL-CAPS so that you would…Ben Aubergine wrote this track way back before the turn of the freakin’ millennium in 1998.  No joke, I’m impressed at how well it has held up, and I even think there’s an argument that could easily be made that this song about “fragile connection, smothering tension, and the quiet collapse that follows” is even more relevant now than it might have been then.  What you’re hearing is a new recording mind you, it’s just the writing itself that is decades old…Ben has fully refreshed this song to fit in the current times we’re in, and from what I’ve read & researched, he’s even played every instrument & mixed it all himself as well.

Do I have any notes here for Ben?  Honestly, not really.  Look…I think it’s fair to say that, if this song is over a quarter of a century old and he’s playing all the instruments & singing & such, that even though this seems to be his debut release as a solo artist, the man’s kept a strong relationship with music over the years gone by.  Personally, I really like what I hear in this single…”Spoke For What I Knew” can likely be boiled down to a Rock song of sorts, but it’s got accents of Pop and Progressive within it as well.  Maybe even a slightly theatrical bend to it too if I’m being honest with ya, but not in a damaging way.  That’s an inside joke for my regular readers that know if I’m using the word theatrical, I’m usually kind of at odds with what I’m listening to – but I didn’t feel that way about “Spoke For What I Knew.”  In fact, I’d tell you that it actually seems like Ben’s got at least a little in common with one of my favorite singer/songwriters – Paul Dempsey – from the Australian band Something For Kate, or more recently, from his teaming up with the dude from Powderfinger to create Fanning/Dempsey National Park.  Not to get too meta about it, but what I hear in “Spoke For What I Knew” would be closer to Paul’s solo work, but you get the idea as I digress – if he’s reminding me of one of my favorites, then he’s in good shape.  The songwriting checks out, the structure is solid, the solo is genius, the hooks are…hmmm…I’m gonna say balanced actually.  As in like, yeah, there ARE hooks to be found in both the verses & choruses, but “Spoke For What I Knew” really felt like a complete song in the sense that both sets of hooks were pretty much of equal strength.  Which can be a great thing.  While it’s true, the average everyday listener is always going to be waiting for that moment for a good song to raise the stakes even further as it slides from verse to chorus, rather than have one part provide the essence of what makes this single memorable, “Spoke For What I Knew” ends up being so well-rounded that it’s the whole song you remember instead.  And really, who on Earth is going to complain about that being the case?  I think the writing shows real flair, the lyricism shows real thought behind the whole song & concept, and the musicianship is more than commendable.  If “Spoke For What I Knew” is lacking something important, I didn’t personally clue into that – to me, this is a stellar example of a song that has everything it needs.

So how about this…did anything surprise me?  Actually, yes – something did!  I’ve run into this a few at least a few times before, where you’ve got a great design to the verse and chorus like this song has, yet it’s another part of the song that might actually provide one of the most significant hooks and highlights.  The vocalizations that Ben has on the other side of his verses – the “whoa-ohs” that he has as he starts the build-up towards his chorus…honestly, it’s freakin’ fantastic.  It’s a great moment for the cleverness of his songwriting, but also in the sound of his voice.  All things considered, there’s a good chance that many listeners out there might end up considering those moments to be the most universally appealing hook that Ben’s single has to offer.  That’s not knocking the other ones that exist, that’s more of a comment on how the surprise factor can often be one of the best parts of listening to music and end up creating the highest degree of impact.  None of us listening were probably expecting to find one of the song’s most memorable moments outside of the verse or chorus, so it becomes like, a bonus for us all.

Plus…c’mon…what a great time to be making videos, right?  Technology has certainly made things a whole lot easier, and you can see that in full effect as you travel with this blue balloon throughout its journey to find the place where it belongs, metaphorically mimicking some of the struggles you’ll hear detailed in the lyricism.  Aside from one extraordinarily unbreakable plate around the two-minute mark, everything looks realistic even though we know it’s all AI generated visual effects.  I don’t know – to me, when things are this well-conceived and out together, it’s really hard to complain when it comes to such a spectacular & seamless end result.  Besides y’all…Ben’s so busy playing all the instruments & whatnot – let him catch his breath while you watch a great video that is stocked full of brilliantly artistic visuals.

All-in-all, I’m all about it.  “Spoke For What I Knew” has compelling writing, drama to it that resembles something like Jellyfish from way back in the day, with a grit & gravitas to it that hits more like Paul Dempsey, but with arguably more of a naturally melodic lead in how Ben sings.  The video’s great, the song is solid…you all know me, if there was a reason to complain, you’d hear me doing it.  I’m stoked to hear this as Aubergine’s official debut & definitely curious about what he’ll go on to do next from here.

Find out more about Ben Aubergine from his official websites below!

Main Site:  https://benaubergine.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/benauberginemusic

YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@BenAubergineMusic

THIS LINE OF TEXT IS INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE, as proven daily by thousands of people that read our pages.  If you’re one of the rare folks that can actually see this message, and you’re curious about how to get YOUR MUSIC featured on our site, by all means click here to learn more about doing exactly that!