Elsten Torres’ “Let It All Out” is  a precious gift from a man with a precious talent

I have always enjoyed singer-songwriter Elsten Torres for his love songs – his ability to wrap the joy and sadness that is so often love into a single song – sometimes a single line.  But at his core, it is not only love that Elsten gifts us with his music, but feeling.  Torres has a precious talent that allows him to allow us to feel our own hearts and that of others.

He has used this precious talent to take us into the heart of Marlene,  his sister-in-law who has ALS, an incurable disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord leading to loss of the ability to talk, move, eat, and eventually to breathe and live.  A person with ALS is trapped in her own body with no way to touch and no future but death – the essence of a silent scream.

His latest release “Let It All Out” pulls us close to Marlene– and to everyone with ALS – in a melodic embrace that at once pierces and opens our hearts.  He sings,

Here I am Trapped within myself /Moving but I know that I can’t 

Here I am I wish you’d understand/This never was part of the plan 

I can only move my eyes//I can only feel my heart

If I could only scream and shout I would yell…to let it all out

The understanding of what another human being is feeling – or not feeling – that those lines bring,  and the empathy that comes with that understanding, are almost overwhelming.  But only almost, because “Let It All Out”  makes room for love inside Marlene’s bodily prison.

Here you are /With hope when I’m scared 

But love only knows truth or dare /Come closer now I hear what you say 

There’s light that still shines through the day

Torres’ precious talent to combine a welcoming voice, comforting music, and sometimes devastatingly interior songwriting has brought him two Latin Grammy nominations.  His songs literally make you feel, make you cry, make you hope. “Let It All Out” does all of those things while it allows us to understand and experience the love of a woman who can only move her eyes and can only feel her heart…a precious gift from a man with a precious talent.

“Let It All Out” was written for those suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) specifically Torres’ sister-in-law Marlene who was diagnosed over 8 years ago with this terminal disease. Please click on this link if you wish to donate or share: https://gofund.me/772bc499.