"Onti" – New single released by Ab Re in collaboration with Miloš Tomić
The new single ONTI, which heralds the upcoming second studio album from the band AB RE, is now available. Released on May 8 across all digital platforms, accompanied by a fitting animated music video, ONTI is ready to present itself in the best possible light.
ONTI—a mythical creature from our imagination or a reflection of our everyday life? The band leaves it up to us to decide. Speaking about the creation of the song, they shared the following: “There’s no recipe for making songs, but they almost always emerge during rehearsals, through long and fun jam sessions on some proposed theme. The basis for ONTI came from the guitar. First, we established a strong melodic-rhythmic foundation, followed by the play of its sporadic breakdown, deconstruction, searching for parallel melodies, small but inspiring twists, and a climactic, explosive, and sonic chorus. The lyrics came soon after. The song was played for a long time during rehearsals, with occasional shifts. It needed time to marinate. This process lasted for about two years. For AB RE, it’s characteristic that the time dimension is not an overly important factor when it comes to artistic expression. The process lasts as long as necessary.”
A particular challenge for the band members was finding an appropriate visual representation for this unusual composition, even by AB RE’s standards. Miloš Tomić, a renowned animated film director and passionate music enthusiast, saw ONTI as a unique challenge and accepted the invitation to collaborate with AB RE on the animated video. The result is an original and unique artistic audio-visual creation that will immerse us in its magical world of imagination, inviting us to watch and listen again and again.
Regarding the animation process, the challenges he encountered, his inspiration, and the new experience, director Miloš Tomić said: “Whenever I receive a call from an unknown number or a message from a new person, I hope it’s the start of a new good collaboration, a new connection, a challenge! From AB RE members, I received 5 songs to choose from, which isn’t common. Bands usually have one or two songs they believe will be a hit. I was most inspired by ‘ONTI’, perhaps because of its three-layered musical structure – from cabaret, through progressive rock, to heated metal… I thought this gave me an alibi to use various animation methods, to blend several stop-motion techniques into one animated ‘minestrone’! All the animations with shattered plastic pieces were created specifically for this song, but I also decided to include animated materials that had been ‘silent’ on hard drives for the last ten years. With new combinations, multi-layered exposures, I finally gave them their proper shine. The collaboration with AB RE members was very simple and friendly, warm, and often accompanied by alcohol (laughs).”
The band recorded the song in their own organization, at their own recording studio, with the great help of producer and sound engineer Lazar Arsović, who also assisted in the production process. The recording procedure is also interesting for modern standards, as AB RE still insists on recording live, with the whole band playing together in the studio, while subsequent corrections and additional overdubs are made if needed for the arrangement and production. This approach ensures the recording captures the authentic live atmosphere, as the band members believe. This inevitably includes all the imperfections that arise through this process, but it’s these imperfections that allow the authenticity and vividness of the recording to shine through.
With their new single, AB RE once again justifies the compliment recently given by critics, who labeled the band as Serbia’s “jazz in opposition” group. Their musical expression continues to blend various styles and influences.
Welcome ONTI, or as we might say, welcome to its world…