In Cambridge

In Cambridge is a fair summation of singer/songwriter Owen Ashworth’s output as the one-man band Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Recorded live at the club Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, Mass., the album finds Ashworth backed by a six-piece touring combo featuring members of Magical Beautiful and The Dead Science. The ensemble fleshes out Casiotone’s low-fi keyboard-centered music in creative ways, adding greater definition to the tunes’ discomforting narratives. Ashworth remains the brooding storyteller, talk-singing his way through songs that blend self-lacerating confession with dispassionate reportage. In this setting, Ashworth’s talent for dissecting the lives of misfits gains a larger resonance, underscored by subtle interactions of keyboards, guitars, and brass that push the sound almost into theater-music territory. Moving from the steady simmer of “Natural Light” to the downbeat funk of “Harsh the Herald Angels Sing” and the bleak dazzle of “The Subway Home,” Ashworth and his crew put Casiotone to bed with dignity, tenderness, and grace.