Wit's End (2011)

"In a handwritten note to Stereogum, McCombs recently wrote, "I know people get lonely because I do, so that's what I end up writing songs about, how you get lonely sometimes and come up with these big ideas that give you meaning for a second but then leave you like everything else leaves you." The statement is economical and accurate, if overly modest. Because while there are lots of musicians trading in loneliness out there, most of them often veer into a self-pity that can leave listeners even more far gone. But the intangibility of WIT'S END makes it a more realistic and reliable companion, its elusive secrets offering a queer comfort. At the start of his first album, A, Cass McCombs posed the question, "Is it dying that terrifies you, or just being dead?" On WIT'S END, he's come up with an answer; on "Buried Alive" he sings, "If I'm alive or dead I don't really care, as long as my Soul's intact." He's got soul to spare." (Pitchfork)