From his name down, Humble The Great is a mesh of contradictions. Listening to this album, you almost envisage an LA polymath, constructing music against the hazy West Coast sunshine. Except, remarkably, he’s from Kent. A dream-like song cycle, ‘i don’t mind floating’ merges together 70s Laurel Canyon aspects with 2k24 tropes, recalling everyone from Alex (both Cameron and G) to Mk.gee in the process. Sonically gorgeous and at times hugely affecting, it’s a perfectly bittersweet record, ripe for Autumn listening.
Wonderfully cohesive, ‘i don’t mind floating’ nails a rich, syrupy palette right from the off. Early cuts like ‘find your own’ and ‘september lightning’ sparkle, their luminescence held together by emotional certainty. It’s never overwrought, however – the woozy vocal effects on ‘everything that lacks in me’ wrap Mac DeMarco prankterism around heart-on-sleeve lyrics.
When Humble The Great plays it straight, though, he cuts straight to the core. The countrified ‘when it gets dark’ is superbly well-formed, while the succinct gem ‘angie’ spins vintage tropes in a new way – curiously, it sounds at times like a BROCKHAMPTON demo.
The lyrics wrestle with matters of the heart, and the tautologies of a relationship. ‘i dont understand u sometimes’ is coy in its advancement, while the cute, sly folk song ‘before we grow over’ is a wonderful vignette.
Taken as a whole, ‘i don’t mind floating’ is a truly gorgeous experience – lyrically enticing and emotionally involving, it emerges from the ether fully-formed. Opening and closing with those short book ends, it’s a masterful record, bubbling with promise and feeling. An unanticipated triumph.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
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