Thom Coombes is one of the city’s most distinct and original songwriters, and no one’s in disagreement about it. Calling him St. John’s’s answer to Jeffrey Lewis wouldn’t be too far off, if you’re not out to enough shows to have caught Thom yourself and need a frame of reference. He’s also a prolific songwriter, putting the final touches on a new album with a fabulous title, A Perfect Day for a Mall Date. It’ll be released in a few weeks.

The song above, “Another Catalyst,”  features Aley Waterman on Keys, Ilia Nicoll on Violin, and Wyatt Shibley on Saw. “It was initially recorded onto a 4-track cassette (drum beats/guitar/bass/vocals) with overdubs from the 3 amigos added digitally, using Reaper, for any recording buffs/amateurs,” he says, adding that A Perfect Day for a Mall Date is “twenty-three tracks long, about 80 minutes, and will be available online, and physically as a double-cassette and CD. It’s both accessible and excessive; a big fish bowl of songs.”