A camera pans over an arid and deserted landscape. The ground is barren and there is no relief from a relentless sun that scorches the dry earth. Suddenly the deep silence of lifelessness is momentarily lifted, and we hear a mournful but deeply evocative humming. The humming seems to emerge from deep below the ground – it sounds impossibly tired but simultaneously unwavering. The humming grows in intensity building into the heat of the day so that smoke begins swirling from the dusty ground and when it clears, we see them – two men wearing cowboy hats, holding a guitar like a weapon and on their feet are leather stiletto boots. Fab the Duo have arrived.
Such is the drama of this track, that your Tonemamas couldn’t help but experience an entire visual escapade with every strum of the guitar. But this is what singer-songwriter/ boyfriends/ duet Fab the Duo are experts in – drawing upon their shared resources of rock, pop and Broadway to deliver a magical and unforgettable performance. This is a song about resistance. The title tells you all you need to know – Greg Driscoll and Brendan Eprile are musical partners as well as romantic partners, and it is their romantic partnership which by virtue of existing, is a form of resistance.
“They despise us because we defy their laws/ But we’ll persevere and we’ll rise above,” sings Greg Driscoll with his expressive, smokey and articulate voice in the first verse over a sparse guitar arrangement. The defiance is palpable. And then the chorus – a soaring melody where Brendan Eprile’s powerful and effortless belt are magically showcased singing, “our love is resistance.” It is triumphant, it is victorious, and it is impossible to not drop what you’re doing and belt along.
“Our love can shake the earth” – there is a momentum to this chorus which certainly feels earth-shakeable.
If their vocal compatibility is anything like their romantic compatibility, the opposers truly stand little chance. Driscoll’s voice bears a delicious weight with clear roots in Broadway, while Eprile brings a lightness that can arch their wonderfully legato and ballad-like melodies.
The amalgamation of rock-guitars, soulful humming, theatrical articulation and tenacious lyrics in this track are put together in a beautiful anthem for the LGTBQ movement that repeats a message that is sounding louder and louder and getting impossible for the haters to ignore: love will win.
Best listened to: this is one for a singalong, cooking a meal in an empty house where you can shake the walls while belting that memorable chorus melody line.
Listen for this moment: 2:46 – Eprile and Driscoll sing in duet with the electric guitar in a beautiful musical union.