AF90 is a radical blast of sincerity in a musical world often dominated by glossed-over emotions and radio-friendly hooks. His new single, "so afraid," is as thunderous as it is tender. It is an anthem that inherits openness and brings it to center stage, loud, rather brash, and resounding in emotional depth. "so afraid" doesn't mince its emotional hand right from the first few notes. This is a reckoning, a confession, a cry for connection, all at once. AF90 doesn't whitewash what it means to lose or feel pressure. Instead, he jumps into the terrible space between wanting to be enough for someone and fearing you're not. It is the sort of internal monologue that most people keep inside, projected outwards here with hard-thumping candor.
It threads the needle between distance and closeness, sorrow and propulsion. AF90 whispers from the pain of the abyss, and he raises that pain to a stadium-sized chorus that feels both cathartic and communal. Beneath it all is a steady beat, an undercurrent of energy that keeps the sadness in check and won't allow it to pull you under. Instead, it gives you momentum. The emotional balancing act is echoed musically in the production. It is atmospheric while also earthbound, minimalist in stretches but never dull. The arrangement creates room for each word to land, for each emotion to breathe, and for each beat to land with the lightest touch that makes it feel real.
"so afraid" is not afraid to be deeply, messily, or openly. Its only strength, in fact, is that of the entire assembly. AF90 has made a song that grants permission to those who've ever doubted their worth in love, who's ever tried to keep everything at bay while crumbling on the inside. It's a song for the late-night overthinkers, for the hearts stretched too thin, and for anyone who's ever yearned to hear, "You're not alone." With "so afraid," AF90 is saying that pop music still has the power to be human. And in that humanness, there is strength and an undeniable power.
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