
Humble Braggers – Cycle
Cycle, the latest EP from synth-pop quartet Humble Braggers, is excellent, danceable and almost entirely bereft of hope. The cycle that the album title alludes to goes something like this: Feel lonely, feel desire; Take a risk, regret the consequences; Find connection, find out that it’s torturous; End up alone; Repeat. Sounds depressing, right? But it’s not. Even as the lyrics dwell on despair, the songs themselves carve out a euphoric space where pain gets put on hold as we give ourselves over to the music. We start with “Reckless.” In a stripped-down verse, bass and a simple beat drive us forward as vocalist Tom Burtless softly intones: “You’ll never get what you want it’s pointless… It’s rinse wash and repeat. It’s the cycle you wish you could defeat.” But instead of collapsing into despair, the synths bubble up and explode into the chorus, with Burtless chanting “I know, I[...]