Being a professional singer-songwriter is hellfire difficult.
One reason for that is that most singer-songwriters are most relatable in their 20s, when feelings, imaginations and libidos are at their most vibrant and unchecked. Past the age of 30, things like mortgages and ideas of legacy start to get involved. The art of songwriting seems to become more...political.
It’s unfair, really, because the craft - pacing, counterpoint and so on - tends to improve. It’s just that many of the most visceral emotions are less convincing coming from older people; they can even become cringeworthy. Thus a singer songwriter must double down on quality, making their music critic-proof.
In many ways, ‘Mangy Love’ succeeds. Cass McCombs’ ninth studio album (his first since splitting from long-term label Domino Records) is a work of superb lyrical integrity and fine arrangement.
Furthermore, it dances around stylistically yet cogently, from the Philadelphia soul-inspired Low Flying Bird to Run Sister Run, which feels anchored in Haitian kompa. This is a record that shows McCombs' writing in full maturity, blending musical tropes with great brio and occasional audacity.
Furthermore, there is some real Radio 2 fodder here, which should broaden his appeal from previous offerings 'A Folk Set Apart' and 'Big Wheel and Others', which were both occasionally scratchy records rooted in Americana. Cry sounds like Interpol with a sense of humour (a good thing) while Rancid Girl feels like it was written for a slow-motion montage in an episode of Peaky Blinders (also a good thing).
Additionally - for the musos - there are tracks like Laughter is the Best Medicine, which manages to navigate an elaborate melange of time signatures (4/4,5/4,4/4,6/4 in case you wondered) while maintaining a high degree of melodious concord. Switch and I’m a Shoe, meanwhile, are deliciously arranged throwbacks that carry off their nostalgic production without ever spilling over into pastichy dreck.
And yet, ‘Mangy Love’ still lacks a certain ineffable vitality that might be apparent in a younger man. It is a finely tuned record, full of ideas and delivered with good taste. Maybe that’s it: it’s just a bit tasteful in the end. It doesn't really feel like it was written by an outlier, and yet it almost certainly was.
Cass McCombs Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon November 07 2016 - LONDON Heaven
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