A Human Like You by We As Gods (Interview 2026)

Edition Ninety-Four – Week Ninety-Four; Unit 2:

Written by: Mercedes Barreto

We As Gods — Artist Introduction

There is something beautifully unhurried about We As Gods. Rather than chasing immediacy, the project creates music that asks the listener to slow down and enter its atmosphere. Led by Brazilian producer Thiago Barlanza, We As Gods moves between Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon, bringing together analog warmth, hazy textures, intimate songwriting, and a fascination with the emotional spaces that exist between sounds.

The project draws from psych-pop, dream-pop, alternative rock, Brazilian music, and jazz, but the music never feels confined by those influences. Guitars, rhythm, vocals, tape-like textures, and carefully chosen spaces within the arrangements create a sound that feels organic and human. Barlanza’s approach is particularly interested in atmosphere—not simply how a song sounds, but how it makes the listener feel while inhabiting it.

That philosophy comes through strongly in the project’s recent work. “Enough,” featuring Bryony-may Onions, embraces restraint and negative space, allowing the arrangement to gradually unfold rather than immediately revealing everything it has to offer. The single was released in March 2026 and became an important introduction to the project’s evolving sound.

More recently, “A Human Like You” has offered another glimpse into the world of We As Gods. The song explores the tension between technology, exhaustion, connection, and what remains distinctly human in an increasingly automated world. Rather than approaching those ideas through confrontation, Barlanza allows them to emerge through a warm and reflective musical landscape.

At its heart, We As Gods is interested in connection: between people, places, sounds, memories, and ideas. It is music that leaves room for imperfection and vulnerability—and in doing so, creates an atmosphere where listeners can recognize something of themselves.

Short Review — “A Human Like You”

“A Human Like You” is an atmospheric introduction to the world of We As Gods. The song moves patiently, allowing its hazy textures, melodic foundation, and understated rhythm to establish an almost dreamlike environment.

What makes the track particularly effective is its restraint. Instead of treating its subject—the relationship between humanity and technology—as an opportunity for dramatic confrontation, the song approaches the idea from a quieter perspective. There is exhaustion here, but there is also hope; uncertainty, but also an insistence that something deeply human remains.

The production gives the song much of its emotional character. Analog warmth and softly blurred textures create the sensation of listening to something familiar that has been slightly transformed by memory. The arrangement leaves space around the vocals and instruments, allowing individual sounds to linger rather than rushing toward the next musical moment.

There is also a fascinating tension between the song’s subject matter and its sonic character. A song considering technology and modern disconnection could easily become cold or mechanical. Instead, We As Gods creates something warm and tactile.

“A Human Like You” ultimately feels less like a warning and more like a reminder: beneath the screens, systems, expectations, and noise of contemporary life, there is still a human desire to connect. And sometimes, the quietest songs are the ones that give that idea the most room to breathe.

Interview with We As Gods
Introducing We As Gods

For readers discovering We As Gods for the first time, how would you describe the project and the musical world you’ve created?

“We As Gods started with a commitment to myself: to see every idea I believe could become a song through to the end, to work on it until it reaches release. In other words, never abandoning the creative process at any stage, always carrying it through to completion.

The world of the project revolves around me (Thiago Barlanza) composing and experimenting with sonic ideas under a single guiding principle, music for music’s sake, as a free form of expression. Whenever possible, I make a point of bringing other people into the process, so their subjectivity can blend into the mix. We As Gods is usually a one man band, but not always alone.”

Where did the name We As Gods come from, and what does it represent to you?

“The name came from the idea that humanity has historically represented itself in the form of gods, through sculpture, mythology, religion. There’s also another layer to it: it works as a divine celebration of music itself, one of humanity’s oldest languages, one that communicates across every kind of person, creating countless sensations and a feeling of connection to the invisible, whether through a concert, playing an instrument, or simply listening through headphones.

The name evokes the idea that anyone who commits to music, represents it, and expresses themselves through it, becomes a kind of god, because of how essential that is to human life.”

You are working between Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon. How have those two places influenced your creative identity?

“I was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1984, which gave me direct contact with carioca beach culture, tropical, sensual, marked by extreme social inequality, a festive atmosphere, and a friendly warmth that exists alongside urban violence, both as a witness and through personal experience. All of that, combined with the great names of Brazilian music, shaped a large part of who I am today, as an artist and as a person.

Moving to Portugal in August 2018 was my first experience outside Brazil. It introduced me to a culture, history, habits and ways of life I hadn’t encountered before, while also expanding my perspective on everything I had already lived. For better and for worse. I got to know people of different nationalities, life stories and ways of thinking, which enriched how I listen to and make music, and made me value diversity as something essential to our existence.”

Was there a particular moment when you realized We As Gods had developed its own sound and personality?

“Definitely. I often feel like I catch an idea sent to me by something, the Invisible, Music itself, usually through an electric guitar or a nylon string acoustic. From there, something develops that’s mine, but not only mine, throughout the process of writing lyrics, composing the song, mixing, and shaping the visual identity. Pieces that frequently seem to complete themselves, almost as a response to my own actions. It’s a fascinating feeling, because even when I’m not accompanied by anyone else in the process, I never feel completely alone.”

Where can we hear more, and why should we?

“The best place to start is our smart link, weasgods.com, which brings together Spotify, Bandcamp, YouTube, TikTok, SoundCloud and even our merch shop in one place. “A Human Like You” is there in full, alongside “Enough” with Bryony-may Onions.

If you want the deeper, more visual side of the project, follow @weasgodsmusic on Instagram and TikTok, that’s where the process lives: studio sessions, tape machines, the guitar work behind each track. It’s less about the finished song and more about watching it become one.

And if you’re the kind of listener who likes to hold something physical, the album’s back cover is an actual hand engraved tattoo, and that same artwork now exists as wearable merch through our shop, linked from the same page.

We’d love for you to stay close as the next chapter of We As Gods unfolds, there’s more coming, and this is just the beginning of a much longer, unhurried journey.”

Anything to add here?

“Music is generous. All it asks for in return is our satisfaction.”