10. Cass McCombsWit’s End
At the time I was living in Ruislip, at the end of the Central Line. It was a difficult time. It was only a year but it feels much longer, especially living away from people in this weird edge of the city suburb. For me, the really special records just come down as a rope ladder from heaven and you’re able to grab onto it. This record was absolutely that.
‘County Line’ is a totally perfect song. Cass plays it last at all his shows, he knows that it’s a goldmine. When delving into the rest of the record, it’s a pretty dour affair. It’s singular in his discography, there’s loads of piano on it and he seems to be really good at writing songs on piano even though he’s only really done it for this one record. It’s so standalone; I think it’s absolutely flawless. I just lived in those nine songs. You identify with those records when you’re going through a difficult period. You don’t need somebody to shake you up and make you feel more positive about your situation; the record can be as dismal as you feel. It’s still being able to identify your emotions through the mirror of that record, which makes the pain and the turmoil of that time feel more understandable.
There’s a great line on ‘The Lonely Doll’: “My soul, though with wine I did douse, the song did arouse.” I was drinking quite a lot at that point so there’s a bit of a haze to my experience of this record, which seems to be laced in the sound of it as well. I used to listen to this record in the bath with a bottle of red wine. I was coating and blurring the jagged edges of life and it just felt like this record complemented that so well. I got through that period thanks to this record. I think because of that Cass has become my favourite contemporary songwriter. He’s certainly my favourite living lyricist. I think he’s severely underrated.
