David Benson wears many hats. He’s a drummer for longtime death metal outfit Acephalix when he’s not a special education teacher at a high school in his native San Francisco. Now Benson, under the moniker Said Sara, ventures out into eclectic but effective musical territory with his latest single “Then There You Are,” out now.
The musician, who describes the song as “emphatic but affectionate,” says the single pays tribute to those who passed on but still “might be monitoring you.” You might not see them visually, but could they be present and “listening in” whether “showing themselves in nature or in the air?” For Said Sara, the contemplative track acknowledges the departed’s presence through these signs.
The song — recorded at The Guest Room and Yosemite Studios in San Francisco and mastered by Jesse Nichols at Oakland’s Atomic Garden West — was created entirely by Said Sara. Although his vocals and an acoustic guitar are the primary instruments heard, piano, bodhran and electronics flesh out “Then There You Are” to near perfection.
Haunting and saturated with vivid imagery, Said Sara’s performance on “Then There You Are” recalls the likes of Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and Live’s Ed Kowalczyk with an earnest, forceful delivery that at times passionately bursts through. Gentle but still powerful, the song invites the listener in with some lovely roots-meet-folk guitar work courtesy of the dynamic performer.
The genre-defying song, which follows the release of 2023’s “Same,” had a few notable inspirations, including a song from John Cougar’s 1982 American Fool album. Said Sara describes “Then There You Are” as “a nagging, psychic melodic concept” fueled by three fragmented aural ideas. One was “the tonic jangle of a guitar turnaround from John Cougar’s ‘Hand To Hold On To.'” The second was “the resonant sound of a certain click track – a mix of cowbell and woodblock, though as played through a guitar chord.” The third spark of inspiration derived from “the conclusion of a refrain from the ’80s ‘Toys ‘R Us Kid’ jingle.”
After having these three distinct sounds popping into Benson’s head from time to time, the musician sat down and sat with the extremely diverse sonic trio. “Once that three-second, three-chord solution was written, the rest of the song marched in line,” he says. With the musical arrangement formed, the lyrical component was written in roughly a month. The musician says “the astral theme took shape as if guided by the milky way itself” as Mercury and Ganymede’s seas are referenced in the lyrics. As a matter of fact, Benson says, “the stars and the shadows they create” should receive ghostwriting credits on “Then There You Are.”
Said Sara performed in Paris, London, Amsterdam, and San Francisco in 2023 and looks for “Then There You Are” to continue that momentum. Based on this stirring new single, to quote a line from the song, “it don’t get more alright than that.”
