Singer Cass McCombs has been prolific this year, releasing “Wit’s End” about four months ago, and now announcing a forthcoming second LP, “Humor Risk”, out via Domino Records on November 8th. It sounds as if McCombs is presenting “Humor Risk” as a more lighthearted and airy counter to his earlier record. A counter that also serves as a sister-album. This is the introduction given with the first single, “The Same Thing”, which you can download for free thanks to his label: “Humor Risk is an attempt at laughter instead of confusion, chaos instead of morality, or, as fellow Northern Californian Jack London said, ‘I would rather be ashes than dust!’. Musically, it is more rhythm-based, tempos swifter to nearly rocking, than the sparse Wit’s End. Infectious melodies are outlined by a wry lyricism that expresses the stories of characters from McCombs’ native land. Rather than fulfilling the stereotype of the confessional singer-songwriter, he describes the lifestyles and feelings of those that surround him, with more love than judgment: drugs, Scientology, Western America, and so on, in allegorical form.” So much for light, eh? McCombs is always heady, and it’s one of his many attributes. So, his fans don’t mind. The new track swirls around romantic lyricism (“Our love in sunlight” / “Pain and love are the same thing”) and sweeping vocal harmony. The pipe keyboard refrain has a folky 60s flair to it, with an island twinge. But the song as a whole, has a rocking mystic, hypnotic lushness of sound that seems to mythologize and age itself as it moves forward. It wouldn’t be out of place on a record like Joseph Arthur’s “Nuclear Daydream”. The vocal overlays work to gorgeous effect. — David D. Robbins Jr.
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