My Silent Bravery - Breakthrough (MWS Records)

It’s immediately obvious that Boston singer-songwriter Matt Wade of My Silent Bravery wears his heart on his sleeve, but he does it in a way that never feels cliche or overdone. On his newest record, Breakthrough, the songs are filled with heartfelt, maudlin sentiment, but with this there is also a genuine compassion and honesty that invites the listener in to Wade’s endearing informality. The songs here are occasionally drenched in an abundance of emotion that threatens to become trite, but it works because of Wade’s unaffected sincerity and a stripped-back production that eliminates even the faintest notion of conceit.

A song like “Endless Ecstasy” could easily veer into meaningless anthemic territory, but once again the modesty of the composition and structure turns it into something intimate and ultimately far more valuable. A great portion of Wade’s songwriting deals with the idea of looking back or nostalgia. Whether it is sadly appraising the events that led to a breakup as on “Warning Signs,” or “Face to Face,” which deals with the melancholy of nostalgia itself, there’s a bittersweet longing in his songs for something unattainable. Breakthrough is an album easy to enjoy and hum along to what’s on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a work rich in complex emotional content.