Review: My Silent Bravery philosophizes on hope & compassion with new EP, ‘Willing to Try, Chapter 1’
The singer-songwriter packs on the funk in droves with his new EP.
Matt Wade is a man of many convictions. A consistent contributor to the Good Men Project, in which he muses on integrity, destiny and living the purest lifestyle, Wade, who goes by My Silent Bravery onstage, embodies sincere righteousness ⎯⎯ often turning to his music to further explore life’s intricacies. His new EP, titled Willing to Try, Chapter 1, cakes on the grooves, tearing away humanity’s tendency to complicate things and swapping in for simple stores crafted around acoustic-drawn melodies. “The truth is all for show / And paid with plastic,” he observes with “Girl You Think You Know,” a charming but hefty story. Wade’s voice is slick and serene, an apt vehicle through which to perceive grim reality for women, who are often held to a damaging standard.
“Got It Going On” is the funk latchkey, popping the top of an EP that flows quite easily through the eardrums while unpacking some sobering reflections. “You can never walk in my shoes / My opinion is headline news,” he sings, swaggering through like he owns the place. And he does. He stages an extravagant and perfectly-adorned narrative, often feeling larger-than-life, even when the strings are pulled back in his lyrics. “Torn and tattered from the start / Nobody said it would be this hard,” he mourns with the precisely-culled “Hearts Breakdown,” submerged in his reliably ’80s smoothness. Even when downcast, there is a spark in his phrasing, allowing the listener to extract supple nuggets of wisdom.
In a recent blog post, Wade references the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who once wrote that “the soul is dyed the color of its thoughts,” a perceptive quality felt profoundly in Wade’s own solo work. Where “Hearts Breakdown” doesn’t avoid or disregard the very real trauma that occurs post-breakup, he pushes for hope, compassion and understanding. “18” is then a rather nostalgic-laced uptempo, prominent acoustic guitar boiling up in the arrangement, with raucous drums needled in between the chords. “You stay with me just like a song,” he sings in breathy, sun-kissed bursts. There is a sparkling magic in his words, his thoughts, his tightly-packed but rich compositions, as if he’s the lovechild of Ben Rector, Mat Kearney and Michael Jackson.
But he’s just My Silent Bravery, an astute and compelling marksman in his own right.
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