As a writer, McCombs has never sounded so confident or intentional. For a long time, his most frequent comparison was Elliott Smith due to his hushed vocals, nonlinear lyrics, and stately, winding melodies. (“Karaoke” and “Belong to Heaven” from this record are particularly strong examples of that last gift.) On Heartmind, McCombs sometimes reminds me of Bob Dylan during the 1980s, the era when he shifted his attention to subjects like Lenny Bruce and the rejuvenating power of Jesus Christ and sleeping in a field with a small dog licking your face, all approached with the same fervent intensity, humor, and absurdity. “Empty ketchup packets may inherit the city,” McCombs sings near the end of the title track, one of the more stirring prophecies you’ll hear in 2022.
What comes next also helps: a slow, spiritual jazz coda that closes the record, breezing and rippling like little else in his songbook. The band assembled for this record—including, among many others, multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, drummers Kassa Overall and Joe Russo, keyboardist Frank LoCrasto, saxophonist Charlotte Greve, producers Ariel Rechtshaid and Buddy Ross, and guest vocalists Danielle Haim, Wynonna Judd, the Chapin Sisters, and Charlie Burnham—feels hand-selected to create this dusky, live-sounding atmosphere. Even moments of respite like “New Earth,” with its passing mentions of muted tweets and “Mr. Musk,” seem to rustle and shift as you listen, packing in as much texture as possible to keep things building until the fadeout.
This flow between music and message animates the record and complicates its plainspoken lyrics. In “Music Is Blue”—a song about obsession with a knotty arrangement that does, indeed, sound like it would take quite a bit of dedication to master, or even just sing along to—McCombs presents what reads like a bleak itinerary of touring life: living off beer, running out of money, losing touch with reality. “I stole to feed her/That’s the lie told by a cheater,” McCombs sings, and it’s around this point that “Music Is Blue” starts to feel like a love song to the person who brought some light into the dark inevitability of his lifestyle. Whether or not the song is autobiographical, you can hear its message resonate through Heartmind, shining on its hard truths and casting a strange, beautiful glow that, for the span of the record, seems like the only thing worth risking it all to share.
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Read More: Cass McCombs: Heartmind Album Review