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A Folk Set Apart
Singer-Songwriter · 2015

A Folk Set Apart

Cass McCombs

A decade-spanning collection of rarities and outtakes that captures the restless, genre-blurring spirit of a modern American troubadour.

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A Folk Set Apart is not a traditional studio album, but rather a vital archive of Cass McCombs' artistic evolution between 2003 and 2014.

A Folk Set Apart is not a traditional studio album, but rather a vital archive of Cass McCombs' artistic evolution between 2003 and 2014. It feels like a secret history of a songwriter who refuses to be pinned down, moving effortlessly from the abrasive, distorted energy of garage rock to the most fragile and intimate folk ballads. The production varies wildly, reflecting the different eras and recording contexts, which gives the collection a raw, unvarnished charm that his more polished studio albums sometimes smooth over. It is the sound of a musician working through ideas in real-time, capturing moments of brilliance that didn't quite fit the narrative of his primary releases.

A Folk Set Apart · vs · Cass McCombs
Baritone+3.4σ

The vocals lean far further into baritone than the rest of the catalogue.

Moments Worth Waiting For
the sudden shift from the feedback-drenched punk of Bradley Boy to the delicate acoustic yearning of Night of the World
the hypnotic and repetitive groove of The State Will Take Care of Me that feels like a lost seventies protest song
the way the organ swells and recedes during the bridge of I Can't Help It, creating a sense of oceanic drift

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