Cult-Hero
2006
We Are Here For You
About This Album
New Jersey trio Huma's debut effort is an often charming first album that shows the group not only has an appreciation for gentle shoegaze-influenced indie rock but actually knows how to do something with it. Much like earlier groups such as the Boo Radleys and Flowchart, Huma are all about cascading guitar textures (electric and acoustic!) mixed with liberal use of electronics -- sweetly droning keyboards provide melodic undertow throughout the album, as do occasional other instruments as viola and trumpet (the latter used to fine effect on the wonderful "Paper Boat," which might well be the album's highlight). Polite dance music influences are no surprise in context, but it's still nice to hear, as on the demi-baggy punch of "Feels Like I'm Walking" and the crisp clip of "Given the Reasons" -- meanwhile, the sudden smack of handclaps a minute into "Start to Realize" is a great touch, a sign that the group knows that sometimes it's all about the subtlest of changes. Laura Cervino's singing is uniformly excellent, warm and possessed of character, often providing a calm, slightly melancholic undertow to more upbeat arrangements.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,10,13 and 14)

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