HOLD THE LIGHT

By Mariam Jibril

For Erick Oscar Rivera, music is a way to express the things in life he can’t quite put into words. Hold The Light is an album Rivera spent 3 decades working on. It draws from his background as a songwriter and guitarist to create a collection of tracks embracing ballads and love songs. Mixing pop, country, Latin, and singer-songwriter styles, Hold The Light stays true to Rivera’s root of creating from the heart. The title track, written as a prayer of hope for his wife who struggles with fibromyalgia, sets the tone for the tracks to follow. Each expands on Rivera’s foundation to express love in many forms, from devotion to relationships and friendships to enduring perseverance.

Rivera’s 3 decades of songwriting and playing the guitar at church give Hold The Light a well-rounded, sincere foundation, but there’s also an edge that shows Rivera’s willingness to experiment. From the use of a SATB choir on the title track to the acoustic guitar and piano arrangements, Rivera easily shifts between expressing love in many forms using many styles ranging from country to pop to Latin styles like salsa, merengue, bachata, flamenco, vallenato, mariachi, and reggaeton.

Hold the Light is an intimate, piano- and choir-driven track that gradually builds to an encouraging communal chorus, the emotional center of the album. Diego Rivera suggests that when a serious illness afflicts a loved one, there are moments that frustrate and confound because there are no satisfactory answers. Those moments induce a painful sense of futility. He counters with the message that during those times the best thing to do is to hope and hold onto your faith, and to keep pushing forward. The interpretation of Rivera’s song is that it is vitally important that during those times you hold the light for your loved ones, as you carry the burden of their illness, and you don’t always know what the answers are.

Everything I Needed is the other side of the coin, and complements the title track, this time in grateful recognition that there is someone or something that enriches and adds fulfillment to his life, and fills in the previously existing void. The recognition of that fulfillment is what gives his life meaning. Everything I Needed provides the basis for what would become the hallmark of a previous generation of songwriting, the ballad. The song takes listeners into the corner of the author’s emotional world and gives them the privilege of drawing their own conclusions. The song enables listeners to have their own intimate, personal communion with the artist, which Rivera made a habit of doing over the course of his career.

Till We Turn Grey commemorates the album’s theme of timeless love. Rivera approaches the idea of love that lasts through the years with the understanding of someone who knows life’s changes will occur, and love should last through them. Given his acoustic-centered style of songwriting, his emotional message takes a front seat, leaving lots of space for his vocals to tell the story. Unlike a lot of new musicians who aim to be like the trendiest artist of the moment, Rivera uses his lyrics to show that love can be timeless, and that there is always a market for an artist who is capable of penning words to a heartfelt song. Compared to the poetry-like song structures of much of today’s popular music, an artist who lets a song breathe offers a welcome pause, yet emotional songs often remain in the background of musical projects.

Rivera’s Panamanian roots are fully embodied in Congela el Tiempo and Eres Mi Latido. Eres Mi Latido is especially intimate, with an immeasurable title that embodies the universal theme of love throughout the album. With Rivera's ability to comfortably sing in both English and Spanish, he has the musical flexibility to sing of universal love themes throughout the world. It’s through Rivera’s ability to integrate varying Latin American sounds that his experimentation in the album's Latin-centered side becomes apparent and ultimately cements his musical identity.

Abraza a Tus Amigos Esta Noche (Hug Your Friends Tonight) expands the definition of love beyond romantic relationships. The song encourages the listener to show appreciation to their friends while they still can. The album takes a wider emotional approach, covering the need for human connection. This song shows that Erick has a deeper appreciation and concern for communal matters, and reflects the experiences he has had communally, including difficult or happy moments, or significant transformations in the community, because Erick is concerned about saying something meaningful. His music talks about love, illness, friendship, devotion, marriage, and the passing of time. He demonstrates growth by using music production software and carefully creating instrumentation and arrangements for his songs, or in other words, being in complete control of the songwriting and music production process.

What is most outstanding about Hold The Light is its sincerity. Erick approaches songwriting in a way that helps him remember things he is thankful for and reminds himself of things he needs to address, including difficult things he has gone through and people he is thankful for having in his life. The sincerity helps the listeners appreciate the gift of human connection. The emotional soul of the album reaches far beyond Erick’s personal experiences and demonstrates faith, romance, love, resilience, and appreciation, among other things. This is what music has lacked in this century, and Erick delivers it with honesty and clarity.