Like many of us, Tom Goss has had a complicated love life. When he and his husband opened up their marriage following infidelity, he found himself realizing he was in love with another man. The complex emotions around this revelation guided the themes of his latest album, Territories. Today we’re premiering a video for the album’s third single, “Berlin,” which documents the moments after he told his lover that he loved him.
“During a trip to Berlin for the weekend with my lover, he told me he loved me, and I, surprising myself, returned the sentiment,” said Goss. “We left the hotel 48 hours later with no idea of what to do next. We go through life thinking we’re figuring it out. We accumulate money, experiences, people and possessions so that we feel, safe and accomplished. I really thought I understood the world… Berlin turned it upside down. As soon as I left the hotel room and uttered ‘I love you,’ I knew that I had entered a new territory. I was scared, excited, confused and without a doubt, a changed man.”
“Berlin” is a delicate piano ballad, highlighted by Goss’s tender vocals and sparse percussion. The video opens with interspersed shots of a house party in black and white, featuring leather-clad men, some bearing whips and others contorting themselves, and full-color clips of Goss walking around Berlin with a backpack. Eventually the focus turns to Goss and his partner (presumably the lover mentioned in the quote above), where they walk around the city and enjoy the street life, eating, holding hands and kissing in an alley.
As the scene fades out from the two lovers locked in a passionate kiss, it opens back up with Goss alone at a train platform to “fly home to my man / and you to yours the same.” The final chorus revisits scenes from the opening party and the two lovers spending time together in a foreign city. It all closes with Goss and his lover in the hotel room, where he departs with a kiss and says “I love you,” bringing the video full-circle. Territories is out on Nov. 13, 2019.
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