For those of you fans of pop music
living in NYC who haven't yet heard of Eric Alán, it's time to come
out from under that rock and get a good look.
His “My Favorite Sin” official
video premiered Wednesday on BoyCulture.com,
YouTube
and elsewhere, and unless you have something against rock-solid back
beats, darkly driving synths, and singing that recalls everything
that was ever good about the Euro-alternative scene of the 1990s,
then you've got some very good music coming to you.
But the music is just a glimpse of the
overall picture.
The first word that comes to mind
describing Eric Alán's “My Favorite Sin” video is blood.
(Well, actually, it's 'beats,' but 'blood' is a close second.) “My
Favorite Sin” is an almost shockingly visceral experience in terms
of both sight and sound. Its jabbing, pounding, pummeling boxing
motif makes for particularly violent viewing as pop-music videos go,
giving an even sharper edge to an already evocative and
adrenaline-fueled song.
The
song itself has a shadowy tone reminiscent of Depeche Mode's Violator
record, but with house-music additions which make it far more
danceable and energetic, something fans of Eric Alán won't find
surprising. Alán's lyrics are worth hearing and thinking about, too.
They're clearly very intimate to him in particular, but describe the
feeling of civil war within us all very well, also.
Alán's
theme of fighting allows for personal, profound and startling
symbolism, much more so than mainstream music generally cares to
indulge in, though of course the focus of “My Favorite Sin”
remains the dancing, the singing, and the (ahem)
undulating.
This
is, maybe, the most impressive bit about Eric Alán's new video: it's
catchy, it's sexy, it's shocking in its ferocity and a hell of a lot
of fun to watch – but it's also meaningful, dead honest, and
nakedly human (even literally). By the end of the 4.5-minute show,
“My Favorite Sin” even manages to be wise.
With sledgehammer symbolism, the title
bout in “My Favorite Sin” is between reigning champ, Eric
Alán, and his ominous, black-knight challenger … Eric Alán.
Contrary to inner-struggle stereotypes, though, it is not a battle of
good vs. evil, and the video gives few clues as to which Alán the
music fan should be cheering on. In fact, it's entirely uncertain
which of them Alán, himself, would prefer to win, the unavoidable
point being that they're both beating agony out of one another and
neither of them will relent.
It's a bloodbath.
There's sweat everywhere. If there are tears to go with these fluids,
they're too mixed in to tell.
The song is performed by a graying Alán
at center ring. He wears a dapper tuxedo and sings into a dangling
bullet mic like a classic announcer of championship title fights.
This Alán represents the scarred and aged Alán, the post-career
Alán, the one who gave up fighting long ago, presumably because it's
a destructive, brutal sport in which he either didn't care to
continue – or eventually couldn't.
There's even a shot of Alán
training which includes his adorable little dog (whose actual name
happens to be Rocky, no less). The pup sticks by the singer and works
as a kind of foil against all the carnage, looking positively
innocent and joyful even as his master strives to ensure that he can
devastate himself as totally as possible when the time comes.
Naturally, there's
a ton of exceptional dancing featuring Eric Alán's onstage dance
crew, dancing being at the heart of his music and live performances.
There's also an amount of male flesh – male flesh that is literally
inspirational. It's arresting. Eric trained for months to pull off
the boxing character in his video, and it definitely shows.
All in all, the
official video for “My Favorite Sin” by Eric Alán is a round-one
knockout. Bringing sound, style, dance and even philosophy to the
table in one flexing and grimacing package, it's far more than his
fans or critics could possibly have expected.
It's a game changer
for independent music videos and music vids in general, proving not
only that pop music doesn't have to be insipid, but also that if the
mainstream doesn't keep its guard up and come out swinging, indie
artists like Eric Alán are going to massacre them. TKO.
–SM
See the official
“My Favorite Sin” video from Eric Alán at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU5JQa1l9fU
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