In today’s political climate, messages of unity are needed more than ever. On their forthcoming sophomore album I Am Another You, Kansas City band Making Movies have crafted just that, to infinitely listenable results.
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Produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, I Am Another You is an ambitious, sprawling 20-track work that spans rock, cumbia, psychedelia, American roots, son cubano, and spoken word — a dizzying but cohesive blend that gives the album a cinematic feel, like it should serve as the soundtrack for some as-yet-unwritten film. The album’s title comes from the the Mayan saying “In Lak’Ech Ala K’In” — “I am another you, you are another me.”
The title perfectly encapsulates the narrative of the album itself, which explores the journeys of three separate men in different countries (Venezuela, Mexico, the United States) and finds the common thread running through their stories, an especially prescient message as debates over immigration continue to rage in the news.
“I Am Another You was born in a dream,” singer and guitarist Enrique Chi says. “It was bestowed upon us, inherited from the stories of my grandfather and born through two years of labor. I pray it is received the way it was conceived, as an ode to the interconnectivity of us all.”
Chi and his own brother Diego and brothers Juan-Carlos and Andres Chaurand make up the band, while the likes of Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra, Tennis’ Alaina Moore and Ozomatli’s Asdru Sierra round out the album’s guest contributions.
Listen to I Am Another You in its entirety before its May 26 release date below.
