Inspired by, well, fucking everything right now, Our Love is a passionate and determined song about rising above the increase in bullshit hate speech and discrimination we are currently experiencing in the world. It follows rollbacks in the rights and equality extended to the LGBTQ+ community, including the removal of the ability to discuss gender identity in schools in the US, and legal efforts to restrict passports to showing gender assigned at birth.
Our Love is the result of a collaboration between Lea Shico, a Colombian artist who combines queer pop, electronic music, and Latin rhythms, and Mexico City’s Rosk, the pop and electronic rock project of Roman Sashida. Having already been partners in life, the pair came together out of a painful need to be heard at a time when many are attempting to quiet voices like theirs. In sharing the song, the duo said, ‘This song is not just a response. It’s a promise: we’re going to win this war by loving.’
Despite the dark and depressing nature of the subject matter, Our Love is an uplifting and optimistic song. The eclectic, colourful and layered sound reminds me a little of the rise of Day-Glo indie in the 00s from the likes of I’m From Barcelona and Architecture In Helsinki. Layered vocals create the rousing, inclusive and inspiring experience of pride protest marches.
When Rosk sings the line, ‘You dirty patriarchs don’t you try to erase, you know that we know how to slay’ you could almost feel sorry for the people whose worldviews are so inevitably going to be cast aside. If they weren’t so toxic, of course. Rosk is bold and forthright as the song hits its Star Wars referencing chorus, ‘Our love will outrun your dumb, glum hate speech’. Despite the deeply painful political reality of our moment, it’s hard not to believe her. Those that love and include and embrace will win.