David Archuleta, Afraid To Love | Track Review 🎵

David Archuleta serves up a heaping does of danceability, inclusivity, and positivity on the marvelous pop bop, “Afraid To Love.”

“All your words like a weapon / But they can’t hurt anymore.” 🎙 David Archuleta is no longer the cute, baby-faced, teenage runner-up on American Idol. To be fair, ‘Archie’ hasn’t been a teen for a while –  he’s 32 years old (and we’ll replace cute with dashing or handsome).  But, the pop musician is on an upswing, dropping several pop bops in 2023.  After reigniting my interest in his music with 🎵 “I’m Yours”, Archuleta shines once more with the follow-up single, 🎵 “Afraid To Love”. According to Archuleta:

“This song is about celebrating and getting people to dance. I wanted something that you could hear at a dance club or to get you jamming late at night in your house.  I’ve been learning to accept myself as I am and to not be afraid anymore of what people think of me. Letting go of any hate and declaring to everyone I’m not going to fear what people think of me for loving whoever I love.”

Indeed, the positive vibes of “Afraid To Love” feel incredibly accepting, easy, and inclusive as opposed to exclusive. A particular line from the second verse is pitch perfect and incredibly smart: “Baby, you feel like heaven / This can never be wrong.” The authenticity and openness with which Archuleta performs with, accepting and embracing himself as a queer person, is nothing short of awesome, brave, and commendable.

“Afraid To Love” runs a respectable three minutes in duration.  As always, Archuleta wows with his vocals.  His middle register is where his bread is buttered but that dash of falsetto he serves up is sweet too! “Afraid To Love” offers tuneful melodies throughout, with the chorus taking the cake.  Expectedly, the chorus is catchy, infectious, and feel good, baby!

“So, I’m gonna love you right

No matter what they don’t like

‘Cause baby, what we do

It ain’t always black and white

I don’t care what they say

I’m gonna break away

Won’t be afraid to love.”

Besides fabulous vocals, memorable songwriting, and tuneful melodies, the danceable nature of this cut is a big selling point. This is notable particularly as the production (🎛 Willy Beaman) grows slicker during the chorus – gotta love electro-pop/dance musical cues. David Archuleta is even more impressive as that handsome, talented thirty-something who’s discovered himself.  And none of us are afraid to love 🎵 “Afraid To Love”.

🎙 David Archuleta • 🎵 “Afraid To Love” • 🏷 Archie Music • 🗓 8.18.23

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Archie Music; Shaun Vadella; OpenClipart-Vectors, PIRO via Pixabay]