Ben Aqua - Break on Thru
Stream + Download
More about the song & art: I took the album cover photo late one night in 2017 after having a tough time grieving the loss of my ex-husband Gery. I shot some slow shutter exposures, using my iPhone flash and an LED keyring to create beams of floating light. I was channeling an aura of Gery and the experiences we shared in our old house - thinking about how when we physically lose someone thru death, breakup, etc, sometimes we can almost picture and feel them in the kitchen making coffee, or at the end of the hallway, hanging a painting. When Gery’s health declined rapidly (pancreatic cancer), he would say he’d be “more of a Casper than a Death kind of ghost” (you can hear a sample of him saying this in the song). I titled the photo “Gery the Friendly Ghost” as a visual representation of the ghostly memories and mysterious metaphysical presence I felt after losing him. I started ”Break on Thru” back in 2017, the 2nd song I created after Gery’s passing. It was incredibly painful and bittersweet to rip the bandaid off and finally work on it again in 2020 - a voracious opening of a time capsule filled with intense pain, sadness, and vulnerability. It felt like walking directly into a burning house. But when the song finally clicked, I felt re-emerged into reality as a newly sprouting tree. I’m rly proud of how the song came out and I hope all of you who knew him (or will get to know him via this song) will have a deep experience hearing his delicate voice sprinkled throughout the piece. Ultimately, “Break on Thru” is an ode to Gery and grief, but also a message to everyone: sometimes we need to break on thru the walls we’ve created to protect ourselves and our loved ones from pain and suffering in order to understand how deeply we can LOVE. I rly believe if we take the time and energy to work thru suffering and “feel everything” (as Gery put it), we can process these tough emotions and become a new and powerful being. Grief and loss are incredibly difficult, but you are NOT ALONE, and you WILL break on thru to the other side. 🚀💀💕