With expansive orchestration and a wide-eyed enthusiasm for the world around her, Neko Case overcomes tremendous loss by celebrating the power of making music with others, on Neon Grey Midnight Green.
The indie-rock and alt-country icon's new album, her eighth solo record, arrives seven years after Hell-On, the longest period between albums since her 1997 debut The Virginian.
In a recent interview with Pitchfork, the 55-year-old mentions no fewer than six people close to her who died in that time, all with a huge impact on her life and music.
As opposed to gloomy and dour meditations on life, death and loss, Case's response was nearly the opposite. What better way to honor her friends' lives than to celebrate musical connection by gathering countless musicians to create together.
Around a minute and 45 seconds into the opener "Destination," the scope of the project and lengthy credit list are musically announced via the swelling strings and wind instruments of a full orchestra.
Neon Grey Midnight Green is the first album Case fully self-produced. What has always set her music apart is the way she follows her creative muse wherever it leads her, regardless of typical song structure or expected melodic continuation. Now, she brings that same restless and questing approach to the overarching sound.
From start to finish, the album is full of delightful left turns as songs suddenly shift tempos and moods and morph into something completely different.
If the twinkling carnival keys of "Winchester Mansion of Sound" ended after Case's bold proclamation, "Only music is forever / You're a Winchester mansion of sound," the song would be nearly perfect as is. Instead, a country drum shuffle, clever electric guitar line and backing vocals from Rachel Flotard take the song into a beautiful new place.
Similarly, the bluesy spaghetti western title track transforms like a storm suddenly rolling in across a dusty plain. As her frustration with a world that mistreats her and restricts her individuality reaches a breaking point, she "climbs a tempest" and unleashes, "I'm not your backdoor man! / Not your oxeye daisy! / Not your Listerine lady! / Your girl!"
If you're worried that the nothing-is-off-limits production and orchestral flourishes might get in the way of Case's songwriting, fear not. At no point are her words drowned out, obscured, or otherwise taken attention away from by the instruments. This is just a guess, but I wonder if bringing all the orchestra players and conductors into the studio and making music together as opposed to sampling or recording separately, is what makes the pairing so successful.
Neon Grey Midnight Green cements Case as one of our great modern lyricists, with a never-ending stream of vivid images, character sketches and unexpected phrases ("You're all period blood and soundcheck blues," "a bird or a breeze can be a hurricane to the little things" and "Do you realize / You've been screaming at an ice age in the ladies room?" are a few of countless highlights) that are simultaneously of this world yet deeply mysterious and open to each listener's individual interpretation.
Welcome back, Neko Case.
Must listens
- "Destination"
- "Wreck"
- "Winchester Mansion of Sound"
- "An Ice Age"
- "Neon Grey Midnight Green"
- "Oh, Neglect..."
- "Rusty Mountain"
- "Little Gears"
- "Baby, I'm Not (A Werewolf)"
- "Match-Lit"
