The Otherness, a 4-piece Argentine band now based in Berlin, provides the listener with a cool, catchy mix of joy and provocation. The group, which has a new video out for their single “We Can Be One,” consists of Martin Cativa (guitar, vocals), Gonzalo Cativa (bass, vocals) Pablo Gaggioni (drums) and Nico Kleihn (guitar).
The band’s 4-track EP, A NEW RESISTANCE, features easy-feel pop tunes that also encourage one to think about what’s going on in the world beyond their own ego. “We notice a society fighting for sex equality while young rebel women in Iran are being persecuted and killed—just because they are standing up in the name of freedom against a dictatorial regime of primitive machismo,” said the band in a collective statement. “Domestic violence, abuse, pedophilia, faulty prison systems, gun violence, bullying, discrimination, hatred, climate change challenges, pollution, greed, and apathy are referenced all over the lyrics of the song.”
Musically, the atmosphere of “We Can Be One” is dreamy and the guitar arrangements and textures evoke feelings of human connection, while the drums and bass interact in such a beautiful and playful way that it is hard to associate this landscape of harmony with the raw pieces of truth that the vocals deliver.
“We Can Be One” boasts an elaborate Berlin-shot music video helmed by cinematographer-turned-director Matías Quinzio. With The Otherness as active producers as well as the stars of the video, we see various characters surrounded by soap bubbles. While the bubbles evoke a feeling of childhood fun and a sense of wonder, they also symbolize us distancing ourselves from the real world—both metaphorically and in reality.
The band feels that this type of isolation can lead to hostility toward the rest of the world and that’s why they chose to shoot the “We Can Be One” video as they did. They want to demonstrate how it’s hard to see beyond our own bubbles but when we harmonize together—various people “sing” the song throughout the film while The Otherness delivers the heartfelt choruses below Bösebrücke. This is significant as it was there at Bösebrücke that the first crack in the Berlin Wall appeared in 1989. Putting the band in that historic location gives a sense of togetherness that arises from the dark while the barrels of fire provide light.
“The bubble is a symptom, not a cause; and we can be part of it or not,” said the band. “It is our call how we deal with it to bring people together and to be nicer to each other.”
“We Can Be One” is available now on the 4-song EP, A NEW RESISTANCE.
