New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Anyone who has ever spent an extended time away from home, knows of the strain it places on relationships and communication with family and loved ones. Brian Cotter, the singer/songwriter of Teach Me Human, knows this reality all to well, as an active aviator in the United States Air Force. His new single, "Tell Me That You Love Me" reflects on the resulting stress, isolation, and insatiable need for connection.
An energetic yet emotive indie-rock track, "Tell Me That You Love Me" was first written in Iraq, while Cotter was on air force deployment in 2018. He shared, "The lyrics represent the conflict of living in a new and dangerous reality while still attempting to connect with loved ones back at home." The accompanying music video provides an insight to the lyrics, showing the duality between each individual's reality. GroundSounds premiered the release, saying that it has an "energetic urgency that pairs perfectly with memorable guitars and huge hooks."
Being away from home is particularly difficult for active military members, who often face an harsh contrast to normal life - whether in a regimented routine of duties on base, or during the chaos of an active deployment. "The video shows me in seclusion, alone, in a not-so-normal place," mused Cotter. "In all the other scenes I am still alone in nicer locations, signifying how even travel can be isolating. It cuts to my significant other [Kelly] at home living a normal life - putting on make up, driving, watching TV, and using her phone in the comfort of safety, but she is also alone. She is trying to call me and find out how I am and what's going on but I never answer because of the circumstances. She desperately needs reassurance, she needs to hear that I love her. We are both alone, both sad, but living two different lives."
The scenes were shot throughout eastern Long Island, New York. With a twist of cruel irony and true to the content, Kelly's scenes were shot separately, as Cotter left for assignment in Texas. Full of metaphorical content, the track and video hit home, with a moving and emotive relay to the themes of isolation, anxiety, and basic human need for connection, comfort, and love. All of Cotters music reflect on similar themes. "I think we all need to learn some human sometimes," he said. "I don't always feel the way we behave sometimes is our fault. Their is no manual or instruction book that we get to help us deal with things like death, heartbreak, friendship… I am learning [to be] human everyday. I take many things from life and mix it with metaphors."
"Tell Me That You Love Me" follows Teach Me Human's previous single "Rock Me to Sleep" released last fall. Both are out now on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple
Music and all major digital retailers. Cotter is actively working a full-length album.
