On his latest album, Tip of the Sphere, singer-songwriter Cass McCombs delivers an intriguing set of 11, often slow-moving, songs.
The lyrics sometimes defy the easy-going, almost lazy pace of the music. The refrain “Help us Armageddon” is spoken to the upbeat music of Sleeping Volcanoes, a track about our indifference about other people’s pain and emotional state.
This is McCombs’ first album since the excellent 2016 release Mangy Love. Like all of his music, it’s hard to pin down. It does have an Americana — almost Western — feel with some exceptions (like the stark, dystopian American Canyon Sutra).
One of the best American singer songwriters today, McCombs can sound a little like Neil Young on one song and Randy Newman on another.
McCombs plays a show at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall March 16.
All the Young Punks 