Benben Releases New Single & Video for 'Old Magic'

NYC-based artist/animator/filmmaker/producer, and self-described “gnome rocker” Ben Wigler, who makes music under the moniker BenBen, has released a new single and video, “Old Magic.” The song is from his forthcoming debut full-length LP, Sincere Gifts, co-produced by Wigler and Jeni Magana (Mitski), out December 8th via Perpetual Doom Records.   

Watch the video below!

“This song is the golden thread running through the whole album, undefeated, perfect, thrumming with magic and vitality,” BenBen told mxdwn in the premiere. “It is a reminder to whoever listens (and particularly myself) that all of us have within us something that can guide us out of even the darkest mind traps. It's actually told from the perspective of a new song, or an idea for a new song, and basically narrates itself into being, giving encouragement to the writer.”   

“Old Magic” follows single and video “Clouded Head,” directed and animated by artist Elia Pelligrini, about the seductiveness of addiction, and how difficult it is to escape a beautiful trap, and the album's lead single and video, "Color Clouds," also directed by Pellegrini.  

Previously the lead singer of bands Arizona and New Beard, both critically acclaimed purveyors of innovative indie art rock, Wigler is nervous but excited to step out on his own as BenBen. Returning from a long hiatus from releasing music, and very much still flying under the radar, BenBen's new music represents a singular vision from an artist free of inhibitions and at the peak of his craft. BenBen's music effortlessly merges complex arrangements with melodies that beam, laser-like, into the listener's brain, surrounded by harmonies that can be described, without any exaggeration, as angelic.  

Nearly each of the 14 songs that compose Sincere Gifts is like a little exotic stone forged spontaneously out of moments of trauma and tribulation but imbued with the infectiously ecstatic energy that defines BenBen as a performer and personality. This is music for those extroverted introverts out there, the people who dream big but are shy, and the people who seem loud and proud, but need a quiet sanctuary to retreat to.  

While on hiatus, BenBen maintained his long musical friendship and off-and-on collaboration with indie-folk enchantress Samantha Crain, co-writing the single ‘Garden Dove' for her acclaimed 2020 album "A Small Death." With his previous brands, BenBen has worked with a wide array of artists ranging from the Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile to Band of Horses and Swedish psychedelic legend Gustav Ejstes of Dungen. Be sure to follow BenBen at the links below for all the latest news and updates.  

TOUR DATES  

Nov. 19 - The Lighthouse - Deal, UK - (early show)

Nov. 19 - Forum Basement at The Sussex Arms - Tunbridge Wells, UK (late show)

Dec. 8 - Gutter Bar - Brooklyn, NY [ALBUM RELEASE SHOW]