Neko Case “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood”
Anti- Records
With five solo albums and a stint with indie-rockers The New
Pornographers under her belt, Neko Case has already garnered praise
for her haunting voice and fresh approach to music. But she has
never been as strong or developed as she is in “Fox Confessor
Brings the Flood.”
Helping to hold the reigns of production, Case constructs a
sound that definitely revolves around a country-music center.
Spirited and dusty guitar riffs accompany parlor-like piano
additions on “Margaret vs. Pauline,” but the album
perpetually incorporates a subtle diversity in genre as well:
“Dirty Knife” features chillingly dramatic orchestral
elements as if it were a score for a film.
This high emotional level runs throughout the album as each of
the tracks explores Case’s fascination with the morbid,
melancholic and ambivalent. But while the tone is dark, it is never
disheartening. Rather, like a photograph of a ghost town, the
album’s confession to sadness works only to accent its
beauty.
Additionally, Case implements bold gospel-like choruses and
catchy pop melodies to balance out that heavier aspect of the
album. But unlike much of the country music being released these
days, the pop appeal of “Fox Confessor” avoids the
kitsch and superficial repercussions that could easily follow.
Instead, it makes the album just that much more evocative,
especially to those listeners not typically attracted to country
music.
By far the most impressive and enjoyable aspect of “Fox
Confessor,” though, is that for which Case is already most
respected: her voice. In “Maybe Sparrow” she stages its
sheer magnetism and unflinching strength under full lights, while
in “Star Witness” it coats the lyrics with delicacy and
sweetness. Throughout the album, Case emphasizes her control over
both of these emotional ranges simultaneously by layering
multi-dynamic vocal tracks on top of one another. The effect pulls
listeners in two different directions at the same time, but it is
far from antagonistic ““ it is beautiful.
The breadth of Case’s voice works further to underscore
the fusion of optimism and despondency inherent in her often
inexplicit lyrics. “Clouds hang on these curves like me / And
I kneel to the wheel of the fox confessor / How splendid he is / As
he shames me from my seat / And on my guilty feet I follow him into
the tree,” she sings on the title track, while cohesively
shuffling between major and minor chords behind an emotive story
line.
“Fox Confessor” is country music at its finest and
most affable in that, like some of the greatest music of any genre,
it cannot be labeled as anything but purely and irrefutably
good.
“”mdash; Kiran Puri