Search - Neko Case :: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

American soul

Stephen B. Baines | Lwonk eyelant, NY | 01/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is easy to go gaga over Nekos voice. Lord knows I have, and with good reason. She's one of the preeminent singers of her generation. But what is more impressive about this album is the immersive quality of the music and lyrics that reveals itself upon repeated listing. The sound of the album is so coherent, that it actually put me off at first. But eventually Fox Confessor was all I could listen to for quite a while. I still listen to it often after several years.





What's the trick? Her technique has been developing ever since that final haunting howl of Furnace Room Lullabye (Her 2nd album) and continued through the DIY anthem to her foster country, Canadian Amp, in which she started laying the foundations of her trademark sound. It's spacious, even other-worldly; distinctly american (in the broad sense) but hard to locate exactly in a particular time or place. With its sparse instrumentation, loose rhythms and open spaces it seems to drift in from the ether, like jumbled up strains of old AM radio stations that have been reflected off the moon and back to us. In Blacklisted, while folding musical influences outside of country into her sound more, she also began developing her lyrical technique, in which she stitches together vivid sequences of images, still-lifes and dramatic scenes without spelling out the connections.



From front to finish, Neko commands these techniques in Fox Confessor more consistently and with greater imagination and maturity than ever before. She adds to the effect by compulsively ignoring typical song structures, which then forces the listener to engage even more and leaves the songs even more open ended. While the music references a wide range of past american sounds, the results is more coherent across songs than on Blacklisted, which prevents the spell from breaking between songs. The lyrical technique has been finely honed as well. In her images are echoes of violence, trust, misunderstanding, defiance, fear, loss, hope and regret. Reflexively you follow those echoes (all the while with that voice reaching out like a strong, comforting hand on your arm) down paths of your own choosing, filling in the narrative and backstory for yourself. It's almost as if you came upon Galadriels Mirror perched on a garbage can along side a gas station in a down-and-out part of a midwestern industrial town. (Neko's fascination for fairy tales and how they work may explain why this odd comparison came to me!).



As others have pointed out, there are great songs on this album. But for my money, Fox Confessor really stands out most as a great piece of art (yes, I'll use that word) when you listen all the way through. Only then can you get transported fully. Just as in a really good fairy tale, once you finally look up, the world and its people somehow look different, and maybe also a bit more precious."

Neko expands her sound beyond alt-country

doctormanny | Pittsburgh, PA | 01/17/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Prior to the release of "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood," I had been a big fan of Neko Case's alt-country sound. I'm not completely sure why, but except for the song, "Hold On, Hold On," I initially wasn't enamored with "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood." Perhaps it was the lack of any really up tempo rockers in the mix. Still, there was something about the album that led me to believe that I eventually would learn to appreciate it, which is exactly what happened. First and foremost, there is Neko's beautiful voice, which I love, especially with the reverbed accentuations, which some people seem to have a problem with. Then there is the very polished and understated musical accompaniment, which as others have stated may be a little too polished and understated at times, but still is very good. Finally there is the very eclectic mix of songs, ranging from the straightforward singer-songwriter storytelling of "Margaret vs. Pauline," to the pop of "Hold On, Hold On," to the haunting ballads like "Maybe Sparrow," and the gospel-influenced "John Saw That Number." While some of the songs on "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" have twang elements to them, this definitely is not an alt-country record, but rather a step forward for Neko Case in the development of her own sound, which utilizes a wide range of musical genres and some unique song structures. As at least one other reviewer has pointed out, it struck me that this CD could have been the score for a David Lynch movie, equal parts cool and eerie. Highly recommended."