New Album
27 January 05
4AD releases PREfection by Cass McCombs on February 7th 2005.
Cass McCombs's debut album (simply called A, released in early 2004) was a rough-hewn and modest record, but beneath its ramshackle, care-worn exterior lay a darkly resonant collection of songs, enigmatic and genuinely compelling.
And now that his second album is with us, it's clear that Cass has a deep well of inspiration to draw on. PREfection has all the wayward beauty and lyrical intelligence of its predecessor, but it manages to move the game another step further on.
From the off (the Not The Way EP, which appeared in mid-2003) Cass's keening, crooning tones sparked connections to the timeless singing of Roscoe Holcombe, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, and what Greil Marcus called "the old, weird America". And as more songs have surfaced, it's become increasingly obvious that Cass writes them like nobody else. PREfection is the most fully-formed record he has made. The ten songs are complex, mercurial, allusive - full of strange epiphanies and crumpled memories. There's some kind of narrative taking place here - if only you can piece together the clues.
From the opening track - "Equinox" - onwards, PREfection conjures atmospheres that frame these fractured compositions perfectly. Dreamlike and desolate, full of drones and shivers, and rising from time to time to pitches of intensity, these songs cradle those troubadour vocals perfectly.
"Equinox", like "She's Still Suffering", "Cuckoo" and "City Of Brotherly Love" is a blissful, slow burning ballad. Brushed snares, woozy organs and languid guitars evoke hushed nightfalls and pristine, shimmering dawns. They reveal Cass as a troubled romantic, absorbing the gritty textures of real life and transubstantiating them into pearls of the imagination.
Alongside these sweet, still moments, PREfection's jauntier side comes as a surprise. "Subtraction" is a surreal, Motown singalong, charging gaily towards oblivion; "Tourist Woman" an urgent, withering tirade. "Bury Mary" is pure Southern gothic, a runaway train of mordant humour and throwaway cruelty. And let's not forget "Sacred Heart", perhaps the purest, most unaffected melody that Cass has yet given voice to. It's almost a pop song, with chiming guitars and a climatic verse to chorus crescendo. As ever, though, the lyrics tell a different, less straightforward story : "Dearly departed", Cass sings, "We all will return to the soil".
In short, PREfection is an album of hidden depths. Dive on in.
Tracklisting:
1. Equinox
2. Subtraction
3. Multiple Sins
4. Tourist Woman
5. Sacred Heart
6. She’s Still Suffering
7. Cuckoo
8. Bury Mary
9. City Of Brotherly Love
10.All Your Dreams May Come True
Praise for Cass McCombs:
"unobtrusively brilliant" (John Peel)
"a maverick already saddled with accusations of genius" (Uncut)
"lush, inscrutable, enigmatic" (Mojo)
"Cass McCombs has a shivering and enchanting voice, the kind of tender croon that could just as easily melt hearts as it could move mountains" (i-D)
"one of the most gifted lyricists the indie-rock world has seen in a long
time" (Time Out New York)