Afraid to Dance by Eric Colville

Boy? Man? Jealous Guy? Confident Guy? Shy Everyman? Pissed Poet? That's the trick, isn't it? Being a part of this life means feeling a thousand ways at once, in no particular order, with as much consistency as the sway of the palm trees lining the Florida Keys where Eric was raised. They dance to their own rhythm without a shred of self-consciousness. What if someone's watching? What will they think? What will she say? Who really cares! Eric Colville's Afraid to Dance wades through life's entanglements, and while each song will affect you for your own reasons they will affect you just the same.

In the looping groove of the title track,"Afraid to Dance," he challenges you to go ahead and take a chance instead of fretting about possible outcomes and then not doing a damn thing. He sits down with you in "Damn Near Anything" and laments the sometimes immovable walls between those who should be closest. But in the end, taking walls down doesn't necessarily mean the other side is coming over - after all, this is real life and not a movie. On "Back to Bed," he puts a faux microphone in your hand, probably a hairbrush, and invites you to sing along and savor the pleasures of seduction and decadence with someone you may have grown used to. "Josephine" is the song you wish you wrote for that girl you knew in high school, college, whatever; who never knew how you felt, and never will. Isn't that a crime? Why didn't you try to explain it to her? Eric says it for you here, and somewhere, maybe she's listening, too.

And that's just my take on the album. How does it make you feel? What will you do now? We're not talking about landing on the moon. We're talking about being yourself, in all your dimensions, and being happy with that. He lets you know exactly how he feels, maybe how you've felt, and with each word and chord, builds his case for what he is and what you are - and what you both could be. When you're working without an editor peering over your shoulder and when you're not concerned about embarrassing yourself, feelings tend to flow out in a real way. And yet, it can be hard to see someone living like that or singing about it. Not if you're Eric. He's just telling you how it is in Gershwin-esque melodies that wind their way between dark and light and back again, leaving you to judge where you fit in.

Eric Colville is asking you to get out of the way of yourself and let your feet follow, whether walking, running, or....dancing. So get up. You're already listening. Now make your own way from right where you stand, wherever that is.

You will be moved.

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