Cass McCombs is one of those artists for whom growth is substantial and unending. For McCombs the concept of a stylistic plateau, even after a decade and a half of releases, seems unthinkable. The seasoned rock genre-blender recently signed to ANTI, effectively joining the ranks of Tom Waits and Wilco, and now there’s word he’ll be releasing a full-length on the heels of his recent collaboration with the Skiffle Players. McCombs’ first proper solo studio album since 2013’s ambitious 85-minute Big Wheel and Others and his eighth in total, Mangy Love includes contributions from Blake Mills and Angel Olsen.
“Opposite House” sees McCombs employing all the wit and deeply colored imagery he’s familiarized us with, here letting loose a dose of wavering string-synths over the jazzy guitar twinge. In clever half-veiled fashion he narrates a picture of a home where everything’s literally backwards, the metaphor figuring to something a little more troubling and internal. Olsen’s vocals flank McCombs’ in a soft loungey chorus as he poses the perhaps not so benign question, “Oh why does it rain inside?”
Mangy Love will be out August 26 via ANTI, and Cass McCombs has just announced a world tour, dates below.
Cass McCombs tour dates
June
01 Athens, Greece at Release Festival
02 Barcelona, Spain at Primavera Sound
03 Barcelona, Spain at Primavera Sound MACBA
07 Basel, Switzerland at Kaserine
08 Geneva, Copenhagen at La Graviere
10 Porto, Portugal at NOS Primavera Sound
12 London, England at Field Day
13 London, England at The Lexington
September
14 San Francisco, CA at Great American Music Hall
15 Los Angeles, CA at Teragram Ballroom
16 San Diego, CA at The Casbah
17 Phoenix, AZ at Valley Bar
19 Austin, TX at The Parish
20 Houston, TX at White Oak Music Hall Upstairs
21 Dallas, TX at Three Links
23 Denver, CO at Larimer Lounge
24 Salt Lake City, UT at Urban Lounge
26 Seattle, WA at Tractor Tavern
27 Portland, OR at Mississippi Studios
October
14 Philadelphia, PA at Underground Arts
15 Baltimore, MD at Ottobar
16 Asheville, NC at The Grey Eagle
18 Atlanta, GA at The Earl
19 Nashville, TN at The High Watt
21 Chicago, IL at Empty Bottle
22 St. Paul, MN at Turf Club
23 Madison, WI at The Frequency
24 Indianapolis, IN at The Hi-Fi
26 Toronto, Ontario at Horseshoe Tavern
27 Montréal, Québec at Petit Campus
28 Brooklyn, NY at Music Hall of Williamsburg
29 Boston, MA at Cafe 939 at Berklee
