Last October 27, multi-talented Singaporean singer Benjamin Kheng released his highly-anticipated first single, "Shared Trauma," featuring Australian artist Keenan Te. 

It served as the first single for his GLOOMY BOOGIE Vol. 2 album, the final part of Benjamin Kheng's two-part album.

In a press release, Ben shared that the inspiration behind "Shared Trauma" "comes from the strong emotional bonding between individuals who have experienced similar trauma." 

“I'm no licensed therapist, but as someone who started a relationship with good ol’ trauma bonding, I’d say please don't do that. It's much better as a song, though,” he said.

“That's what ‘Shared Trauma’ is about - there's something poetic about the feeling of mutual sinking and the polarity of finding new love through old wounds, which was fun to play up in the lyrics, as well as the music arrangement around a darker subject matter,” he added.

The song that was released last October 27 was written by the 33-year-old singer alongside singer-songwriter and his friend from Australia, Keenan Te.

Photo credit: @keenante Instagram

“Absolutely love working with Ben, not only is he a good friend but a great artist which makes working together so easy! The song is super fun and I am so proud of it,” the "Never Let You Go" singer said, describing what it's like working with Ben.

Los Angeles-based rising producer produced the song while two-time Grammy nominee and multi-platinum engineer from New York City, Joe Grasso, did the mixing and mastering. 

Benjamin shared his experience working with his newfound "music brother," 

“I love Keenan. I think he's so deserving of everything that’s coming his way. He not only works incredibly hard but he was one of the best melody writers I know, one of the best! He's so humble and young and he’s just a really really nice guy, a really great guy who genuinely wants to write and work with artists and friends,” he said in an exclusive interview with PUSH.

“'Shared Trauma'  was I think the second or third song we wrote, but merely we were like, ‘I love this dude! I wanna be in his life. I wanna hang out even if it's not about music!’,” he added.

“Initial song drafts were straight-up ballads, but I wanted to mess it up with a messy bass line, which gave the song new life. Keenan was the perfect co-pilot for this, from writing all the way to having him on the track. His pocket of infectious melodies is unmatched, and he's such a giving performer and amazing human being,” Benjamin said, praising Ben.

The two multi-talented singers also released a music video directed by frequent collaborator, Barnabas Chua of Murk & Marrows. 

The video features both him and Keenan in a retro living room set and maintains a cheeky and playful tone despite the song's heavier subject matter, keeping with the paradoxical “gloomy boogie” theme of the upcoming album.

You can watch their "Shared Trauma" music video here:

You can also listen to "Shared Trauma" on various music streaming platforms.