Cass McCombs Mangy Love on 2LP + Download

Over the past decade, Cass McCombs has established himself as one of our premier songwriters - diverse, cryptic, vital and refreshingly rebellious. It's a career that's twisted and turned, from style to subject, both between records and within them. Eighth studio full-length album, Mangy Love, is McCombs at his most blunt: tackling sociopolitical issues through his uniquely cracked lens of lyrical wit and singular insight.

Throughout, he uses himself as a mirror to misguided and confounding realities, confronting them head on. The severity of his lyrics is contrasted by the music, which ventures into groovy realms of Philly soul, Norcal psychedelia and New York paranoia, articulating the spontaneity and joy of his live show better than ever before. Hip-hop and Beat poetry influences have never been more evident, with several songs employing a speech-style and clever fast-paced wordplay.

There are guest appearances by many fellow musicians of his tribe ranging from Angel Olsen (on "Opposite House") to Blake Mills, under the production of veteran Rob Schnapf and Dan Horne. Mostly written during a bitter New York City winter and while traveling in Ireland, Mangy Love is McCombs reaching new sonic heights, creatively evolving lyrically, and resulting in his most provocative, yet immediate record yet.