This latest creation by Austrian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Beer gives a voice to socially conscious issues that are often under-represented in mainstream media. Despite the expansion of the musical soundscape to include seductive strings and discreetly used ambient sounds in dub style, Beer continues to hold on to well-known characteristics of his earlier songs. When in Who we are - from which the album title is also taken - he takes a clear stand against racism and discrimination: “I will always be someone who takes a knee. I know who I am and who I wanna
be ”, one feels reminded of the uncompromising songwriting of the early songs by Everlast, Eels or The National. On the ballad 'Something else' it is the melancholy that carries you away and reminds you that in the first moment exactly the unexpected is often perceived as a mistake, although over time it turns out to be an indispensable cornerstone that would never be exchanged . “A flower in the desert, an ice cube in hell. I can tell. She’s something else “Who we are is full of such apparent reactions and internal dualities. Never before has Beer built such a self-contained world of emotions that develops a deep pull in the course of the listening experience. The video single Nothing Like celebrates the magic of experiencing, “perceiving in the moment” and “doing something” with melodious optimism and plays with a finely dosed pinch of cynicism with the pop cliché of “doing it”. If you listen to it, you can actually discover a lot of what makes the human life experience special. Disappointments, rejections, excessive demands, the desire to slow down the pace of everyday living and for authenticity in relationships. But also hope, confidence, trust.