Cass McCombs

Cass McCombs

Album: “Tip of the Sphere”

Grade: A

Cass McCombs follows up 2016’s “Mangy Love,” the most all-around successful and profile-lifting album of his career, with an atmospheric, sweetly meandering record made in 10 days in Brooklyn but with plenty of sonic and thematic references to his native West.

“Tip of the Sphere” tapers down some of the frills of its predecessor, achieving a more uniform overall sound while still finding space for some catchy arrangements and lyrics alternating between mythical, realistic and enigmatic.

A hypnotic, insistent guitar arpeggio on the introductory “I Followed the River South to What,” as well as the vaguely Jackson Browne-like tone of McCombs vocals, not to mention the turbulent and lengthy guitar solo, evoke the California spirit, while “The Great Pixley Train Robbery” is a dynamic tune based on a real 1889 heist.

The deeply romantic “Estrella” has a light touch allowing it to float skyward, and “Absentee” contrasts a Harry Nilsson piano melody with a muted but restless saxophone.

“Sleeping Volcanos,” with a Suzanne Vega-sounding refrain, and “Sidewalk Bop After Suicide,” despite its alarming title, are among the more straightforward tunes on the rest of the record.

“Tip of the Sphere” finds McCombs is enigmatic as ever, but his enthralling talent makes it a treat to snuggle in beneath his songs.

–Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Carsie Blanton

Album: “Buck Up”

Grade: B

Songwriters of all political persuasions have labored to define the odd moment we’ve been living through since the U.S. election of 2016 upended everything. Many, especially on the left, have sometimes been preachy, literal or too full of themselves to be bearable.

Now comes Carsie Blanton, a New Orleans-based singer and part-time sex blogger, whose entry, “Buck Up,” offers a radical but playful take on it all. She is disillusioned, yes, but she isn’t taking things too seriously.

Blanton blends revolutionary politics with daring commentary about relationships, all laid out on a bed of clever, label-resistant songcraft. A rough-cut lover she’s attracted to, for example, has “got a kiss like summer in the dirty South, but I don’t mind at all.”

It would be wrong, though, to mistake Blanton’s sometimes-graphic lyrics or little-girl vocals for a lack of emotional depth. On a lovely ballad called “Harbor,” she counsels risk-taking: “Lovers run to ruin, soldiers run to war, ships are safe in harbor, but that ain’t what ships are for.”

Blanton’s political take emerges vividly on “American Kid,” a song about the world we’re leaving to our children. It’s a danger zone for cliches, but Blanton’s take is original and cutting.

On the title cut, she channels John Prine so vividly that she offers the songwriting legend a writing credit in the liner notes. The song, a manifesto for coping, caps off an engaging album that succeeds by finding joy in the face of disillusionment.

–Scott Stroud, Associated Press

Robert Ellis

Album: “Texas Piano Man”

Grade: B

Texans play guitar. Stevie Ray Vaughan? Willie Nelson? Buddy Holly? Johnny “Guitar” Watson? Guitarists. Elton John is not a Texan, but when he recorded “Texas Love Song” (a deep-cut gem), the tune featured not piano, but guitar.

Now here’s Houston native Robert Ellis, an excellent guitar player, sitting at a piano bench on the cover and on all 11 songs of his latest album, “Texas Piano Man.” It’s a bold departure, even for Ellis, always an iconoclastic contrarian.

Instead of quirky country, Ellis performs pop. He brings his excellent band along, which means there are guitar solos from the wild and wonderful Kelly Doyle.

There are also stacked Beach Boys harmonies and other classic rock flourishes with hints of Eric Carmen, Barry Manilow, Ben Folds and Radiohead. Ellis plays the piano pounder and shows considerable chops, even going quasi-classical on the lovely “Lullaby.”

Ellis gets too silly on occasion, but more often his humor gives the set extra sparkle.

On “Passive Aggressive,” the clever arrangement fits the title, and “Nobody Smokes Anymore” declares that situation a drag.

–Steven Wine, Associated Press