The mercurial singer-songwriter Cass McCombs continues to move in unpredictable ways. After releasing an album of children’s music with his old friend Mr. Greg and playing guitar on Jennifer Castle’s single “Lucky #8,” McCombs recently announced a brief tour and reissued some of his early records. He also surprise-released a new album of music that he recorded nearly a quarter-century ago.

Cass McCombs has returned to Domino Records, and he just reissued his 2002 EP Not The Way and two of his albums 2003’s A and 2005’s PREfection. At the same time, he also released Seed Cake On Leap Year, an album that’s been sitting on the shelf for decades. McCombs recorded Seed Cake On Leap Year between 1999 and 2000 at the San Francisco apartment of Jason Quever, the Papercuts leader and longtime McCombs collaborator. (Papercuts, incidentally, are opening some of McCombs’ upcoming gigs.)

The 10-song LP Seed Cake On Leap Year fits right in with the more shambling acoustic parts of Cass McCombs’ catalog. If he’d just released it as a new album without saying when he recorded it, I would’ve been none the wiser. This guy has been good for a long time! Below, stream Seed Cake On Leap Year and check out McCombs’ upcoming dates.

TOUR DATES:
9/19 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley *
9/20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
9/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room *
9/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
9/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
9/27 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^

* with Papercuts
^ with Advance Base

Seed Cake On Leap Year is out now on Domino.