In 2019, Bring Me The Horizon released their sixth studio album, amo , and if the word chosen for the title seems to be in Portuguese, well… that's because it is. In May of the same year, the band released the video for the single "mother tongue," recorded in Brazil , and the song also has a short verse written in Portuguese in the chorus: "Don't say you love me / Say amo." But why so many references to Brazil?
Currently, vocalist Oli Sykes is married to Brazilian model and singer Alissa Salls , and the union has even resulted in the purchase of a residence in Brazil and the issuance of a CPF ( for the singer. The album's name, amo , conveys the feeling in Portuguese and also plays on the word "ammo" (ammunition, in English), representing love as a form of ammunition for the album.
At the time of the release of "mother tongue," Oli Sykes participated in a Genius where he decoded the meaning of the song and spoke about the supernatural way things happened when his path crossed with that of his current wife, Alissa. The artist openly sang about his atheist stance for years, but undoubtedly his relationship made him rethink some things – he even spent a few months on a retreat with monks recently.
“It was one of those things where it was all about being in the right place at the right time, kind of like a butterfly effect,” Oli comments. “She [Alissa] was working as a model in London and ended up doing some work for my clothing brand. We started talking and hanging out, and before we knew it we were doing it all the time, whenever we could. She didn’t speak much English, I didn’t speak any Portuguese, but it was one of those situations where you just let it happen.”
“I took a flight to see her in São Paulo, and I remember she was moving, so we didn’t have anywhere to stay, so we rented a really crappy room in a tiny hotel,” he continues. “As soon as we got into the room, we lay down on the bed and started sobbing. It was very strange and at the same time – it was the kind of crying that makes your stomach hurt. We were hugging and must have cried for an hour. For no reason at all, we never explained it, but I’m glad she cried too because, honestly, I don’t know why, but it was the feeling of meeting someone you already knew.”
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